Windows to the Soul
by Clear Eyed Dreamer
Summary: His eyes were dark and empty like a starless midnight sky… She found herself being inexplicably pulled into them… BV
1. Chapter 1

Windows to the Soul

Summary : His eyes were dark and empty like a starless midnight sky… She found herself being inexplicably pulled into them…

Chapter 1

I sit and I watch. I can be no further help. I am not strong, nor am I any type of a fighter. I am an intellect and I suppose, in my own way, I'm using that to fight. All my focus right now is on helping the most arrogant, selfish man I have ever met get stronger. It doesn't make sense, I know that. I have this nagging feeling deep inside that as soon as he's finished with the predicted androids in three years, he'll turn on us. It's a risk I have to take. He's strong and he will help us. I have no doubt that Goku will continually surpass his strength so the Earth isn't in any type of real danger.

I've grown tired of being indoors and have instead opted to sit out on the back deck with a science magazine and a glass of lemonade. I know I'm a geek, where as most women would grab a fashion or gossip magazine, here I am stimulating my brain on my off time. Yamcha, my boyfriend for the past decade, always scolds me about it and tells me that I should learn to relax more. I always promise him that I will but I never follow through on it. This is who I am and I don't understand why he can't accept me for it. I love him no matter what, at least I think I do. It's been so long now that I'm comfortable with him, sometimes I think that's all it is.

I sit here watching Yamcha train with his little companion, Puar, a flying cat like creature. He's been hanging around here a lot more lately after I offered Vegeta room and board. I think it's cute that he seems to think he'd be able to protect me if the Prince snapped, but I'm confident that I can hold my own with my flame haired guest.

I don't know a lot about Vegeta and probably never will. He doesn't talk much and most of what he does say are insults, boasting or commands. I try to look into his eyes to get some understanding of what he's feeling or thinking, but there's nothing there. His eyes are the most compelling things, even though I know they should be the most frightening. They are so empty, I can't tell anything from them because I don't think there's anything there.

I sneak a glance at the Gravity Room that is further back on the lawn to find flashing lights inside. It looks like Vegeta is going full force which means I'm sure I'll have some repairs to do by the end of the day. I can't help the sigh that comes out of my mouth. Yamcha hates me always fixing things for him and says I should make him fix them himself. I don't see that going over well and I don't feel like explaining to Mom and Dad why there's a wing missing from the house. I hate how Yamcha always puts me in the middle of him and Vegeta, I can't please them both at the same time.

I hear the GR door bang open which shakes me from my thoughts. I hadn't even realise that Vegeta had ceased training. I grit my teeth and sit up straight, readying myself for what was to come next.

"Woman!" I hear screamed in a gruff male voice as Vegeta walks out of the room and starts stalking towards me.

I roll my eyes, "what is it this time, your royal highness?" My voice is dripping with sarcasm and I notice with satisfaction that his sneer deepened. I also notice that Yamcha has ceased training and has come to stand a few feet to my right.

"Your inferior Earth technology, as always," Vegeta snarls. "Weakling technology made for a weakling planet." He stops a few feet in front of me and crosses his arms across his chest.

"It's not the technology that's the problem, it's the person using it," I reply as I narrow my eyes slightly at him. "I told you to take it careful with it, I am not at your beck and call to fix things that you break."

Vegeta's head tilts up a little, "you serve no other purpose."

"Hey! I have a lot of purpose here, buddy. A lot more then some freak alien who shall remain nameless," I cross my arms and turn my face to the side. I didn't mean to let him get to me, but his comment hit a little too close to home.

He snickered, knowing he got to me.

"Man, leave her alone," Yamcha piped up, trying to be my white knight, "she's relaxing, she's not working. She'll get to it when she gets to it."

This of course attracted Vegeta's anger and he took a few threatening steps towards Yamcha, "you do not tell me what to do," he told him, "you are filth compared to me. You wouldn't last two seconds with me and don't tempt me to prove it."

Yamcha's fear was obvious, but he stood his ground.

I sighed once more and stood up, "fine, I'll fix your toy, Vegeta, if it'll stop this disgusting show of testosterone." I started walking towards the GR without another word or look towards them but I knew Vegeta was following behind me.

As I steped into the GR, I notice nothing obviously out of the ordinary until I notice the control system. The cover is missing and the wires are in a ruckus. I rush over to it to survey the sparking damage. "Vegeta," I whine, "what did you do?"

"Nothing, woman. I was merely adjusting the controls when they started to malfunction," he told me.

I stared at him, at his eyes, for a second, but they never wavered. They never seemed to change with the movements of his mouth or his emotions, even his anger didn't touch them. I had a suspicion that he was lying about why the control system was in the mess it was, but I knew he'd never admit that it was his fault and not the fault of the technology. I looked away and to the wiring. I didn't dare touch it until I turned off the power and the main switch was in my laboratory. I had placed it there as an emergency measure in case I had to turn off the gravity or stop the rooms power for one reason or another. I sigh and turn to leave the room, expecting Vegeta to still be standing there. Of course he isn't and has already made himself scarce leaving me to fix his favourite toy. I roll my eyes and leave to go to my laboratory to turn off the power before I can get to work. Some relaxing day this turned out to be.

---

I barely touch my supper that night, I'm not really hungry. I move the fork around the plate, absently mixing together the various food on my plate. My mind is on my work and on technology. I have once again fixed the gravity machine but it's not better then it was before. I must find a way to make it better, to re-enforce the control panel and walls. I sigh audibly which makes my mother give me a worried look.

"Bulma, dear," she says in her airy voice, "you're not eating."

Always the master of the obvious is my mother. "I'm just not hungry," I mumble back.

"You should try to eat a little something more, must keep your strength up," my mother tells me in her high pitched chirp. I'm way past old enough for her lectures but for some reason, I just can't bring myself to move away from home.

"I know," I mumble again but still don't put any food into my mouth. I have no idea how I'm going to improve the gravity machine. Earth's strongest and best technology is already built into it but it's no match for Saiyan power. I should get some information about the Saiyan home planet and create a replica of their materials. They would obviously be strong enough to handle Saiyan power. Of course, to do that, I would have to talk to the one last living being who knew the Saiyan home planet and somehow sitting down to a polite conversation with Vegeta was not something I wanted to do. Maybe I'll invite Yamcha along to 'protect' me…

I look across the table to my boyfriend. He stayed for supper and is currently in a conversation with my father about baseball. My father doesn't follow sports much and looks to be a little bored by Yamcha yammering on. I feel bad for my father, I know what it's like to be in his position right now. I mentally scold myself, I don't know why I've been thinking such mean thoughts about Yamcha lately. I think he's around too much lately and it's starting to wear on me. It's not like I can tell him to leave though, he'd give me that stupid look and then proceed to rant about how I let a known killer live in my house but I make my own boyfriend leave. That's not something that I really want to get into.

I hear the front door open and close with a bang, signalling the return of the Prince. I haven't seen him since he left after he broke the gravity machine and has no doubt come back to see if I have finished the repairs. I excuse myself from the table to intercept him before he makes his way from the front sitting room to the dining room. I notice the displeased look on Yamcha's face and I give him a little apology smile before walking off to find the Prince.

I bump into him, literally, when I turn a corner to get from the hallway I was in to the sitting room. His hand shoots out and grabs my forearm to keep me from toppling backwards. I know it's instinct for him and in no way an act of kindness towards me. He retracts his hand when I'm steady and stares blankly into my eyes, his face a blank mask. With the barely five inches of space between us, I notice for the first time that if it wasn't for his hair, we'd be the same height. Then I notice that there's barely five inches of space between us and take a step back. This amuses him apparently as he smirks.

"What's so damn funny?" I ask, placing my hands on my hips and glaring into those bottomless eyes of his.

He shakes his head to dismiss the subject which annoys me slightly and I think he knows it.

"Why do I put up with you?" I ask rhetorically. The thought passes through my mind briefly that we'd probably get along a lot better if I didn't always act like I was in a snit around him. I ignore that thought and continue with my behaviour.

"Because you want to survive in three years time," he answers my question.

I stick my nose into the air slightly, "please, Goku will be able to defeat those androids blind folded with both hands tied behind his back."

Vegeta narrows his eyes slightly at me. I only ever bring up Goku when I want to irritate him more then usual and it works every time.

"But since he has some kind of thing against killing you, I have to put up with your psycho butt," I continue on before he has a chance to say anything, "now, if you will follow me, I'll show you the updated controls in my gravity machine." I turn on my heel and start down the same hallway I had come from before which will eventually bring us to the back of the house and the back door. I know he's following me, he wouldn't give up the chance to play with the gravity room.

I walk into the open room at the back of the house. There's not much here, just basically a storage room. When you have as many rooms as we do, it's hard to find something to full all of them. I head out the back door and over to the gravity machine. When I go up the ramp to the door of it, I finally pause and look behind me. He's right there, another half an inch and he'd be breathing down my neck. I can't help the gasp of surprise that comes out of my mouth. I turn forward again and fumble with the security code to get into the gravity room. I finally get it and happily step into the room, glad to put some space between us. I know it was an act of revenge for him, to get me back for what I said about Goku. I'll let it go for now since we're technically even. I walk over to the newly configured control panel. I couldn't duplicate the previous one and didn't want to anyway. I created new controls for everything and had to show him what each was for. He listened quietly at my side which I saw as a blessing. The less he spoke, the better as I saw it. I can't say I didn't care for our games, our verbal spars and vengeful attitudes were actually quite fun. It was like a blast of exhilaration when I saw his eyes narrow at me and I knew I had finally gotten a small victory against him.

I turned to him with a proud smile after finishing my explanation, "you think you can remember all that?"

He scoffed, "of course I can. It's hardly complex, of course, I wouldn't expect anything better of you."

"You have it backwards, Vegeta. I have to make it simple to match the mind of the one who uses it," I reply and cross my arms over my chest, not backing down to him.

"Don't use me as an excuse for your own meagre intellect, woman," he stated, "you might as well save some dignity and admit that your technology is lacking."

"I will do no such thing, I don't tell lies," I told him, "now, if you excuse me, there's many other places I'd rather be then standing here trying to convince a hard headed man that he's wrong." I stepped around him and walked out the open gravity room door. As soon as I did he closed it from inside and I'm sure got down to some training. That argument wasn't going to go anywhere, we might as well have been standing there saying 'is' and 'is not' over and over again, neither one of us were going to budge. With a tired sigh I entered the house again and made my way to the stairs that would take me upstairs to the bedrooms.

I entered my bedroom to find Yamcha sitting at my desk reading a magazine of some kind. He had long since decided that he could come and go from that room as he pleased and I apparently had no say in the matter.

Yamcha looked up when I walked in and gave me a bright smile, before it slowly turned into a frown. "Babe," he started slowly, "is that a bruise on your arm?"

"Huh?" I replied, completely confused. A bruise, what was he talking about? I looked at my forearm and my eyes widened. I had a large, faint bruise on it. My mind hurriedly went over the events of the day backwards until I figured out what had happened. Vegeta must have grabbed my arm a little too hard when I had bumped into him. I chuckled, I hadn't even noticed.

"That's funny?" Yamcha asked, getting to his feet to face me. "Did that murderer do this to you?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him, "inadvertently," I told him.

"Inadvertently or not, I don't care," he stated. "Bulma, I don't want that man living here with you. Look how easily he can hurt you."

"Chill out, Yamcha, alright?" I told him, starting to get a little irritated, "I didn't even feel it and he probably didn't realise that he grabbed my arm too tight."

"What's he doing grabbing you anyway?" he asked me.

"I bumped into him and he grabbed my arm to keep me from falling on my butt, alright?" I stated, starting to seethe, "any more questions?"

Yamcha waited for a second before shaking his head, "no, and I have nothing to say that you haven't heard before."

"Good, now get out and let me get some time to myself," I told him, instantly regretting the anger in my voice. He left quietly after that and I curled up on my bed with a thick novel ready to immerse myself in another world.


	2. Chapter 2

Windows to the Soul

A/n: Thank you for your reviews, they mean a lot to me. I know it's been a while since I posted the first chapter, but things have been quite hectic here for me. My boyfriend lost his job so I had to get one as soon as I could, plus I'm also in college so I've had a lot of time constraints. Anyway, today is my boyfriends first day at his new job, so I have some time once again. Be expecting updates once or twice a week.

Chapter 2

Loving and being loved has never really been easy for me. I'm not even sure that I know what real love is but I'm certain that what Yamcha and I have doesn't even come close. It's been a week since I basically kicked him out of my house and he has yet to show his face or make contact with me but here I am whistling along to a peppy song on the radio while I work on some projects I've been neglecting. He's barely even a fleeting thought anymore. We've been in so many arguments and have broken up so many times that I'm used to him being away for days, sometimes weeks, before seeing him again. It's always stupid stuff that we fight over too, it used to be dates and parties, now it's time constraints and the almighty Saiyan Prince. When I think back over the time I've spent with Yamcha, we've definitely evolved from a shallow relationship. Looks, status and publicity was all I used to care about and I'm the first to admit that I was shallow, but I like to think that I've become a lot better recently, hence why the common arguments with Yamcha have a less shallow feel to them. He'll be back, I know he will be. He'll miss having a beautiful female companion and come back to me. I'm not worried about him leaving me for another female or cheating on me, I know he won't, he's not that type of guy. Sure, he flirts, but so do I. It may make me a little irritated, but I get over it and he never follows through on anything.

It's funny how working on projects always make me think stuff over. Right now I'm working on an update to the line of cleaning bots that we released in prior years. They were a big hit, but we've found that their storage capsules aren't lasting as long as we had initially thought they would. The project was originally my fathers, but he's getting older and I've taken over a lot of his accounts as well as do a lot of transactions for the corporation.

The last week I've tweaked with and finished a lot of projects I had started before Vegeta moved in and started making demands on my time. I'm a little suspicious though as to why I've had so much time on my hands to work on these projects. I've barely had a thing to fix in the gravity room all week and I don't trust it. Strangely enough I think I'd feel a lot better if I heard a loud 'boom' come from the back of the compound. I stop turning my screwdriver and wait… but there was no 'boom'. I laugh at myself for being so silly, those types of coincidences only happen in the movies.

If this was a movie, there would be a huge boom right after I had that thought, then Vegeta would come storming in here spouting off some nonsense, I would argue right back and a heated argument would start that would end in a passionate kiss. I laugh again, glad that this is real life, not a movie.

---

After a couple more hours in my personal laboratory, I decide to take a stroll throughout the compound. I almost walked out with grease smeared across my cheek, I of course washed it off. Nothing could be done about the smears on my faded blue jeans or white tank top, not that I really cared about the clothing, they were old. I was more worried about paparazzi, every so often they'd show up on the compound to try to get some shots of my family involved in a scandal, which was the price you pay for being in the eye of the media. If someone was going to take my picture to be seen nationally, I wanted to look good, not like some grease monkey.

At a slow pace I walked the perimeter of the compound slowly making my way to the gravity chamber. I really did want to check up on Vegeta and see what he was up to. I should've had tons to repair this past week and all I get is a couple agility bots broken. I hesitantly walk up to one of the red tinted windows in the side of the chamber and look in. The gravity isn't on and he's no where in sight. I frown and turn back from the window, gasping when I notice him standing a few feet from me staring at me.

"Looking for something?" he asked gruffly, the side of his mouth turned up in a smirk. His arms were crossed over his chest and the only jovial thing about him was the expression of his mouth.

"Damn you, Vegeta!" I yelled at him, not impressed by being sneaked up on. "For supposed royalty, you sure don't know much about manners."

He shrugged at me, apparently unaffected by my words. His eyes were still as dark as ever and had yet to look at something other than my face.

"Would you be polite to a man who broke into your house?" he asked.

I thought about his question for a second, but it had thoroughly confused me, "of course I wouldn't be, but what does that have to do with your manners?" I know he only changed the subject because he knew I was right about his lack of manners.

"Why should I be polite to someone who is invading my privacy? Did I give you permission to come snooping?" he asked me those questions and all I could do was stare at him in disbelief.

"Last time I checked, my family name was on the deed to this place, buddy, so that means that machine and the land it's on belong to me and I can go wherever I please," I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him, "and you shouldn't be going around sneaking up on people. Gees, what are you trying to accomplish? I can hardly fix your toys for you if you give me a heart attack."

He continued staring at me as if to try to make sense of what I'm rambling on about. I should have spoken slower for him, maybe then he'd understand.

He merely turned his back on me, lifted his hand as if to dismiss me and started to walk away. I couldn't believe it, how dare he treat me like a servant! I'm almost too mad for words. The arrogance of that man, the mere insolence of him. There is no way he's getting away with that. I stalk up behind him, catching up to his slow pace easily and grab his arm. He stops and watches me as I walk around to his front. "God damn it, Vegeta! What the hell is wrong with you? I give you shelter and food and…and…medical aid…and everything else, and I don't even get a thank you! That's fine, you know what? I can live with that, but I am not your servant! I am not someone at your beck and call and I have a name. My name is Bulma Briefs and I happen to be the smartest woman on this planet, one of the best looking and I am way rich to boot. You should consider yourself lucky to even get an invitation to spend time at this compound, let alone live here for three years!"

Vegeta simply rolled his eyes at me, "calm yourself, woman. What did you want in the first place?"

"Calm myself?" I repeated through gritted teeth, "jerk," I muttered but took a few deep calming breaths anyway. I should've known getting mad at Vegeta wouldn't bring about results. "I was merely seeing why you haven't been keeping me busy repairing things that you broke," I told him, making sure my voice had a snobbish tone to it.

"It's certainly not because the technology has improved any," he stated which I replied to with a quick roll of my eyes, "I've just been training elsewhere, not that it's any of your business."

"Please, and how many time have you demanded to know where I was because I wasn't around at that precise moment to fix your bots?" I asked, knowing the answer was countless times.

"That's different," he said, tipping his head up slightly to add to his snotty and better then thou appearance, "by not being around you're impeding progress."

I just shake my head. I honestly wonder sometimes why I ever bother to talk to this man. His skull is so thick that I'm surprised anything I say even manages to get in one ear and go out the other, you'd think it's get stuck on the way in and never make it to the other side. I smile at him brightly, which in turn makes him give me an odd look. "Vegeta," I say, "we'd get a long a lot better if you were lacking a voice box."

He narrowed his eyes at me but the corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk all the same, "I could say the same thing about the screechy, mind numbing sound you call a voice."

That's the closest we ever come to a truce. He has two smirks, an 'I'm better then you' smirk and an amused smirk. I've learned to tell the difference and I sometimes find myself trying to amuse him, even just a little bit. I think there's something wrong with me. I just wish his eyes would be amused, they still creep me out. They make me think of a murderers eyes. There's nothing there, no conscience, nothing.

---

I am sitting here in apt disbelief. Vegeta has decided to grace us with his presence at dinner, which rarely happens, and is actually holding on a conversation with my father. Of course, I know the only reason that he's talking with Dad is to stroke his own ego. My father asked him about Saiyan technology and Vegeta was more then happy to explain why their technology is far superior to Earth's. Dad is entranced by the conversation and is listening to every word that comes out of Vegeta's mouth, it makes me sick. I wish Dad would try to relate to Yamcha the way he is with Vegeta. The last time Yamcha was over here for dinner, Dad looked like he was wishing a hole would open up in the floor and swallow him up. I know the two don't exactly share a lot of interests, but Dad could at least try or Yamcha could ask about his work.

I force a yawn out of my mouth, trying to look like I wasn't interested. Pretending to not care what Vegeta is saying when I'm actually wishing I had a tape recorder or notepad to catch it all is actually a hard feat. I can't help it, I love to hear and learn about any type of technology that I hadn't known about, plus this new information can certainly help with the re-enforcements to the Gravity Room.

I sneak a glance at my poor mother, she looks so bewildered. I'm so glad that I inherited my fathers intellect. I couldn't imagine clothes and men being the most important topics on my brain. Oh, and Grandchildren, which my mother has nicely started to drop hints about. I'm only twenty-five, I have my entire life ahead of me. Besides, I'm not even engaged, let alone married.

I turn my attention back to Vegeta who is just finishing talking about the technology used in the pods that he would travel from Frieza's ship in. I found one little tidbit of information quite interesting, the fact that he can successfully repair those pods. I'm sure with a little bit of guidance, he could learn how to fix the Gravity Room when he breaks it. I'll have to remember to bring that up to him the next time he starts complaining that his toy is broken. It's funny, I never thought of him being the type to know how to fix anything, let alone complicated machinery. I guess he does possess some kind of a brain inside that rock hard head of his.

"So, honey, where's Yamcha been hiding this past week?" My mother asks me as the men's conversation starts to wind down.

I shrug and swallow the mashed potatoes I had put in my mouth a few seconds before, "I don't know." I'm not lying, I don't know where he is, I just know why he's not here.

My mother frowns, "did you have another fight?" She pouts and looks my face over quickly, "that's no way to keep a man, sweetie. That poor boy, you always seem to run him off."

My mouth gapes open in shock, I can't believe what she's saying. I groan and shake my head, "Mom, I really don't feel like talking about my relationship right now," I say quietly, hoping she gets the hint.

"I don't know why you insist on staying with that boy, anyhow," my father pipes up. "He's certainly not good enough for my daughter. Not a single intellectual thought in his head and he's hardly going to be able to protect you." He shakes his head and purses his lips, obviously displeased with my choice in men. "Honestly, Bulma, the first time you brought him home, I hoped that you'd grow out of that phase. Now here it is almost ten years later and he's still hanging around. You really have to ask yourself, what does this boy have to offer me? Then, you have to answer it honestly."

I'm staring, I know I am. I also know my eyes are wide and my mouth is probably hanging open just slightly. "Daddy, I really don't feel like even thinking about my personal life right now," I said when I managed to find my voice.

Dad only shrugged in response, signalling that he had already said his peace anyway.

I return to focusing on my plate of food. I refuse to think about what my father has just said. I know that a lot of it I probably should think over, but I just can't. My heart can't stomach the thought of losing Yamcha just yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 3

I decided a couple days ago that I've been working way too hard. It's all been stuff for Capsule Corporation though, Vegeta has only been training here half the time, so he hasn't managed to break much. I am a little wary about going out tonight though, he's been on the compound all day and hasn't once left the gravity chamber. I really don't trust it. I peeked in on the stats about halfway through the day and he's going full force. Something must have ticked him off for him to be going so hard.

But, I am going out tonight. If he breaks the chamber, then he'll have to wait for tomorrow for me to fix it, or God forbid, fix it himself. Yamcha has yet to make an appearance, so I couldn't drag him out for a night, so instead I called up a couple friends of mine. I really didn't feel like dealing with anyone who knew about the androids, so I decided on normal friends this time around.

My best 'normal' friend is Taya, she was my secretary a few years ago before she went back to college. We hit it off really well and go out every now and again to catch up. She's short, barely even hitting five feet, but she takes good care of herself. She used to be a little chubby, but she's been dieting and exercising like a mad woman and has dropped more then a few pounds. I'm so glad I'm naturally thin, I don't think I would have the discipline to not eat chocolate cake and cookies. In fact, when we go out, I usually eat most of her dessert as well as my own. She's got this adorable baby face though with huge brown eyes and a round face. She's got long purple hair with blonde highlights in it.

My second 'normal' friend is someone I've known since high school, Lait. In high school we were polar opposites and never hung out, but a couple years ago we met up again and found we have more in common now. She was and still is, obsessed about looking good. I suspect she's had cosmetic surgery since high school but I've never brought it up. She's rail thin with huge breasts (cosmetic surgery, much?) and stands about six feet tall. She has wavy dark red hair and dark brown eyes which are usually surrounded by so much make up that I can't even tell the shape of them. She's a model for a popular clothing line in town and thinks herself to be the ultimate 'catch' for any male.

Right now, we're all sitting in my living room before we head out. Lait has been describing all her latest adventures in the romantic department and Taya and myself are feigning interest. She'll run out of stories eventually and shut up, she always does.

Lait takes a moment to take a breath and I jump on the opportunity. "So, how's Mar been?" I ask Taya.

I immediately regret asking as Taya's eyes drop to the floor, "we actually broke up about a month ago. I found out he's been cheating on me for the last six months," she says quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say as I mentally kick myself. I didn't know, but she hadn't said anything about him so I should have picked up on it.

"It's alright," she replies and forces a smile, "he wasn't right for me, anyway."

"Well, we'll see about finding you a new guy tonight," Lait says with a wink in Taya's direction.

I frown, "I hate being the only one in a relationship," I say, which is true.

"That can easily be fixed," Lait tells me, "just phone him up and break it off."

I roll my eyes and open my mouth to respond when I hear the back door slam open. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, "oh God," I mutter as I wait for the Saiyan Prince to either come find me or scream my name.

"What's that all about?" Taya asks, her eyes wide and a little worried.

"You'll see," I tell her and count off the seconds until Vegeta's form appears in the doorway. Took him eight seconds to find me, he's losing his touch.

"Woman," he started, voice low and eyes narrowed, "your inferior technology has given out again. Fix it."

I raise my eyebrows in interest, "what did you do this time?"

"I did nothing," he replied, lifting his chin up.

"Really? It seems to me you were pushing it's limits all day. What the hell do you expect to happen?" I ask as I narrow my eyes back at him.

He shrugs and looks at me again, "just fix it. And be quick about it, I don't feel like losing any training hours."

"Excuse me, but I have guests, Vegeta! Ones who aren't demanding things of me all the time!" I exclaim and cross my arms over my chest. I am not giving in to him today.

He looks at the other two women as if noticing their presence for the first time. Taya is nervously avoiding his eyes but Lait is obvious in her admiring of his shirtless physique. She notices his eyes turn to her and she winks at him and gives him a small smile. He ignores her and looks back to me, "they can wait."

I sigh and shake my head as I get up from my seat, "no, your highness, you can wait," I tell him and motion for the other girls to get up, which they do. Taya passes by him first, moving as quickly as she can. Lait, on the other hand, takes the opportunity to slap his butt on her way past.

Vegeta growls and I notice a small energy ball forming in his hand, obviously meant for Lait. He glances at me and I give him the most disapproving look I can. He rolls his eyes and lets the ball disappear.

I walk up to him and place a stern finger on his chest, "I am not fixing your toy tonight so you have two options as I see it. You can wait for me to fix it tomorrow, or you can try to fix it yourself." I didn't wait for a reply before I walked past him to go meet the girls out by my car. I have a feeling I might have to explain why part of the compound is missing to my parents tomorrow. He was not impressed, I could tell.

I climb in as do the others, Taya in front with me and Lait in back. We weren't even out of the compound yet when Lait started.

"Who is that yummy man?" she asks me with a devilish look on her face.

I roll my eyes, "don't get any thoughts, Lait, he's not looking for a woman."

"But who is he?" Taya asks, curious. "He's got such a domineering presence, I don't know how you can stand up to him."

"Practise, and lots of it," I tell her with a chuckle. "His name's Vegeta, he's training on the compound and uh… testing out some of our new top secret training equipment." What was I supposed to say? Oh, he's a Prince of a planet that was blown up by this pink lizard thing and he's training to fight androids that some guy from the future told us are coming in a few years. Oh yeah, that would go over well.

"Interesting," Lait says and thinks for a second, "you should so set us up."

"Lait, I'm telling you right now, he wouldn't want anything to do with you," I tell her, leaving out the part about her being blasted into itty bitty pieces.

"Liar, you just want him for yourself, don't you?" Lait asks and giggles, "someone has a crush."

"Shut up," I told her a little more sternly then I meant to, "it's the furthest thing from that." I glance at Taya who is looking at me with a small smile. I roll my eyes and turn them back to the road, hoping Lait drops this subject.

---

I get back home about four hours later after dropping the other two women off. Thankfully, Lait had dropped the subject of Vegeta not long after as she had gotten bored of it. She has no idea what she's talking about anyway. I stop the car at the side of the house and capsulize it, at the same time noticing a light on in the gravity chamber. I look around before walking over to it and up its ramp. The door opens automatically which is a sign that the gravity isn't turned on. I hear some muttered curses and walk in to investigate.

I smile at the scene in front of me. A side panel is missing from the control station and Vegeta is laying on the ground on his back with his head stuck in there actually working on it. He's wearing nothing but loose black jeans and I'm actually stunned that he's wearing something that isn't meant to train in. My tools are laid out beside him in no particular order.

I didn't actually think that he would attempt to fix it himself, I just figured he'd complain about it but wait for me to fix it tomorrow. I walk up to him and nudge his leg with my foot, "whatcha doing?" I ask.

He pops his head out of the panel and glares at me, which isn't very effective considering he has a smudge of grease on his cheek. "What do you think I'm doing?" he growls.

I smile at him, and the thought runs through my mind that he looks cute with that smudge, I quickly remove that thought. "I didn't actually mean that you should try to fix it," I told him and walked over to the panel. I kneeled down beside his head as best I could in heels and a short skirt and glanced inside the panel. He had a light on the ground illuminating the wiring so it wasn't hard to see. "You know, if you mess something up in here, I'm not re-wiring this thing."

He rolls his eyes, "you act like it was actually difficult to figure this out."

"You're not pulling me into an argument tonight," I warn him, "I am in way too good of a mood to let you."

"Then leave me alone," he grumbles and sticks his head back under the panel, forcing my head out.

I frown and watch his work closely for a few minutes. He does seem to understand what he's doing so maybe he won't need me to fix things for him anymore. That thought actually saddens me slightly. "How do you know so much about this?" I ask.

"As I told your father, I used to repair the pods we used to travel in," Vegeta replies, tone irritated.

"I know that, but I examined those pods slightly. They were very simple, most anyone could have fixed them with a little training," I stated, "this machine is far more complex then the pods but yet you seem to know your way around it."

"I have my reasons," he replies, never stopping his work.

"You don't want to share?" I ask, "of course not. What am I thinking? You can't have an actual conversation because you're too busy acting all big and tough and better-then-thou. You know, people would not be so hesitant around you if your natural look wasn't a glare and your tone wasn't always set on unpleasant. You're some lucky I talk to you, or you'd be stuck in this chamber all alone all the time and that's just not healthy. You're so-"

He cut me off with a loud growl, "if I tell you, will you shut up?" he asked, poking his head out of the panel.

I smiled and nodded, "sure."

He stuck his head back under and started working again. "when Frieza first kidnapped me, I was considered a grunt. I wasn't good enough or old enough to actually send out to fight yet so he made me do mechanical labour."

I thought about this for a second. Repairing Frieza's ship would definitely give him some experience working on complex machines. "I would've stayed doing the mechanical labour," I mention quietly, "instead of killing innocent people."

"What makes you think I was given a choice?" was his only reply. His tone was nasty and I could tell this subject was not something he wanted to get into. I was surprised though that he even shared that much with me. I guess my shutting up is valuable to him.

"Why don't you come inside and get some rest? I'll finish this up tomorrow and fix your mistakes," I say with a smile when he pops his head out to glare at me.

He narrows his eyes at me and reaches up, shoving me back and making me fall over backwards from my previous seated position. I giggle, getting the hint that he wants me to leave him alone. He's never shoved me before, so I call this progress. It wasn't really a shove even, more of a light push.

I get to my feet and nudge his leg with my foot like I had earlier, "come on, Vegeta, you need rest. You trained all day and now your working your brain. And do you know how long it's been since your brain got a workout? It's probably exhausted."

He rolled his eyes, "why are you bothering me? Don't you have someone else you can be annoying?"

I think for a second, going over names in my head before I break out with a huge smile, "nope. I'm all yours for tonight."

"That's great," he mutters and sticks his head back under the panel.

"Are you ever in a good mood?" I ask as I sit down beside him again.

"No," he replies simply.

I sigh. I was hoping he would be a little more friendly tonight since I'm making this huge effort not to be bitchy with him. Maybe it's because he's finally doing something for himself that I'm being more friendly towards him. I'm sure I'll be back to my bitchy self the next time he makes demands on me. "All right, fine. In all seriousness, come inside and get some rest. I'll finish fixing up this thing for you tomorrow morning. And, I'll even make you something to eat tonight."

The mention of food gets his attention and he pops his head out again. He looks at me suspiciously, "no ulterior motives?"

"Nope, none," I reply with a bright smile and get to my feet.

I wait until he gets to his feet and grabs his shirt before leaving the gravity chamber and making my way across the back yard. Vegeta has come up beside me and is keeping pace with me. I notice him scanning the dark around us and it hits me just how suspicious and untrusting he is. I frown slightly, I almost feel bad for him. Frieza has had such an impact on him, he's like a broken man and it tugs at my heart. Why am I being so receptive to him tonight? I sigh and shock him by wrapping my arms around one of his as we walk across the lawn. At least now his attention is focused on me being out of the ordinary then on being so paranoid and suspicious. I'm actually surprised he didn't shrink back from my touch or shake my arms off, he just let me walk with him. Something in the back of my mind is telling me that this is his way of accepting my offer of friendliness tonight, although he would never voice it.

I let go of his arm as we get to the back door and go inside. I'm careful to lock it before making my way through the room and into the long hallway that leads from the front of the house to the back. Vegeta is no where is sight but I know he's probably waiting in the kitchen for me so I make that my destination. I walk in to find him leaning against the counter with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He doesn't even look peaceful like that.

I shake my head and notice the flashing red light on my phones base. I look around briefly for the actual receiver before giving up and just turning the base to speaker phone and pressing the button to get the messages.

The first one is from Yamcha and I'm surprised to hear his voice as I start taking out pots and pans to cook with. "Hey, Bulma, it's me. Just to say I miss you and would like to get together soon. If I don't hear back from you tonight, I'll drop in tomorrow." I walk over to the base and hit the button to delete the message. I'm really not overly concerned with that man.

The second message stops me in my tracks on my way to the stove. It's from the security team at Capsule Corporation headquarters. "This message is for Dr. Briefs or Ms. Briefs. This is Smith calling from Capsule Corp. HQ at approximately eleven thirty at night. We've had a break in and have so far been unable to track the perpetrator. They are still in the building but, as weird as this sounds, don't seem to have any corporeal body. They are particularly concerned with the office and work area of Ms. Briefs."

I bit my lip as my mind started racing. I have no idea what's going on. Who would be interested in my work? I hardly even work there, although a lot of my plans are kept on file there. The fact that they're incorporeal worries me, although it doesn't really surprise me. I've seen much weirder hanging around Goku. I turn to Vegeta who is staring at me with a blank expression.

"Feel like taking a trip?" I ask him, to which he raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "I normally wouldn't ask you, but I have to go down there tonight and the fact that this thing can evade my security really doesn't put me at ease. I'd much rather have you breathing down my neck looking out for this thing."

Vegeta makes a show of rolling his eyes and standing upright, "fine, I'll go if you agree to fix my training equipment as soon as I break it without so much as a word, understand? And you will not put me off."

"Fine, deal," I agree, "let's just get going before this thing does anymore damage." I lead the way outside before I realise that I don't have my car capsule on me. "Shoot, I'll have to go find my capsule, just give me a second," I go to make my way back inside but Vegeta grabs my arm to keep me still.

"We go my way," he says simply before picking me up effortlessly and shooting into the air.

I'm trying so hard not to look down, I just hope I can trust him not to drop me. He seems to have a good hold on me around my torso and under my knees. I wrap my arms around his neck loosely for extra security. I look at his face as he stares ahead, his expression is stone and his eyes are still empty.


	4. Chapter 4

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 4

When we get to Capsule Corporation headquarters, the first thing I do is try to find Smith. The power has been cut and there's no lights to lead my way throughout the building. I go on memory as best I can and I finally find Smith outside my 6th floor office. He's talking on a radio frequency to the other security members when he sees me approaching.

Smith is a tough man but he's always friendly with me. He's in his thirties and looks his age. He has short brown hair and thin blue eyes that are always darting around. He's got a nice build on him too which is definitely an asset in his line of work. He gives me a slight smile and walks over to me as we approach. His eyes turn from me to the cranky looking man following me around with his arms crossed over his chest. "Who's this?" Smith asks, not trusting him, "he doesn't have clearance to be here after hours."

"Don't worry about it," I say with a slight chuckle, "he's my personal security."

Smith looks him up and down and frowns, "he doesn't look so tough, Ms. Briefs, I'd hate to see you hurt."

I hear a growl emanating from behind me and I turn to Vegeta with a stern look, "behave," I say quietly and make sure to lock eyes with him for a second before turning back to Smith. I know he got the point. "I can assure you that Vegeta is way more than qualified."

Smith just shrugs and motions toward my office, where the door is unlocked and open. "I take it you want to look around in there." I nod and he continues, "there's a battery powered lamp set on the floor, so it won't be completely dark. We'll let you know if we see any signs of this thing still around."

"Thank you," I say and lead Vegeta around him and into my office. I'm careful to shut the door behind me as I don't overly like the idea of anyone, even security, poking around in my stuff. My stuff, as it is, is strewn over my desk and carpet. Folders and papers are everywhere, as if they were looking for something in particular. I have no idea what they'd be looking for, all I have in this office are old plans for products we already released and just some plans for updates on products. All my important, non-work related plans are kept at home. I sigh and shake my head. I really don't appreciate this. Sorting out this mess is going to take hours, then I'll have to try to pinpoint what they took. I glance at Vegeta who has taken a seat on my comfortable leather desk chair. I shake my head, biting back a comment about personal property and how that seat is reserved for me and me only. He looks back at me with a bored expression.

"I don't like him," Vegeta says as I start gathering my papers. Thankfully they went through one folder at a time and most of the folders contents are near to it, "you should have let me teach him some humility."

"Leave him alone, he does a good job," I say and finally just plop myself into a sitting position in the middle of the floor. Stooping to pick up these papers would kill my back and that's really not what I need right now.

"I'm not concerned with how good of a job he does. He should bow before the mightiest warrior on this pathetic planet, not insult him," Vegeta says, his voice getting his familiar snobbish tone to it.

"I'm so sorry we can't all be alien freaks with huge power levels," I reply, only half my attention on the man sitting at my desk.

He grunts and leans back, putting his feet up on my desk, which only grates on my nerves further. The desk is expensive, not to be used at a foot rest. Not that I can say anything, he'd probably blast it to pieces just for the fun of it.

That was the end of our conversation, as I had noticed about twenty minutes later that the Prince had fallen into a quiet sleep. I smile and shake some my head, "some protection," I say quietly and return to my sorting.

Everything was fine for a couple hours. I was making a definite dent in the mess of my office when the lamp suddenly shatters. Startled, I jump to my feet, straining to see anything in the darkness. I feel flesh behind me and move my elbow to shove it into whosever sternum it is. It gets caught by a hand the same time I hear, "don't be foolish, woman," said quietly in my ear. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding the same time he let go of my arm. I count off the seconds of complete silence until those seconds turn into minutes.

"Vegeta," I murmur quietly, "is it here?"

"Yes," he replied simply, "it's energy level is too small, it's hard to pinpoint it."

I take another look around the darkness now that my eyes have adjusted slightly. I don't see anything out of the ordinary. I'm also acutely aware that Vegeta is pressed lightly against my back. I don't know whether to take it as a protective measure or just a way to separate my low energy level from this things. I figure it's the latter of the two, it's more in his nature. He wouldn't want to accidentally attack me instead of this thing then have to face an enraged Goku because of it. I don't care either way as long as he keeps me safe. As soon as that thought leaves my head he moves away from me and over to the left wall which is lined by windows. He hauls the curtains out of the way to let in some dim light from the security lights in the parking lot beneath me. I notice when he turns to face me that he does not look pleased. The way the dim light is playing shadows on his face makes him look sinister and dangerous. I shudder slightly at the way he's glaring at me. I know he wouldn't hurt me, at least I hope he wouldn't, but he looks way too volatile right now.

"This was a waste of my time," he growls quietly.

"Excuse me?" I reply, "I didn't realise my life being in danger is a waste of time."

"You're life isn't in danger," he states, "this thing is not a fighter, it's looking for information and that's it. If it wanted anything more it wouldn't have had to resort to stupid parlour tricks to try to scare you."

"You're such a jerk!" I exclaim. "You don't know any of this for certain. Maybe that was just a warning."

"Believe what you want," he snarls, "but we're leaving." He starts to walk towards the door ignoring my muttered curses.

"I'm not done here yet," I state and cross my arms as he walks past me.

"I am," he replied firmly and doesn't stop.

I let out a low growl of my own as I stalk after him and follow him out of the building. He scooped me up more roughly then before and I snarled at him, "watch it, buddy," as he took off into the sky. He moved quicker then before and unceremoniously dumped me on my butt when we landed back at my home. I had a string of curses on the tip of my tongue ready to throw at him, but when I got to my feet he was gone. I took a deep breath of cool night air as I tried to calm my temper. Once again, my night has been ruined.

---

I had the worst headache when I got up the next morning. I had a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep was even worse. I had planned on going back to the headquarters today but now I don't see it happening. I'm in no mood to have to clean up my office and try to find what's missing. I just don't have the head for it today. I pop a couple pills to try to combat the headache before heading downstairs. I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee and sit down at the small wooden table. My mother is in the room doing some light cleaning and turns to me with a frown. "Bulma, dear, are you just getting up now?"

I nod, "yeah. I went down to the headquarters last night after the break in. I left there late, I guess." I notice my voice is barely more then a mumble and sigh. I already know today is going to go horribly.

"That's where your father is now, trying to sort through this whole mess," she goes on, "it's such a shame. Media people have been calling here all morning trying to get a hold of someone for a comment. I guess there was no one at headquarters they could reach that was important enough."

"I'm not here if they call," I mumble and put my head down on my arms on the table. Dealing with media personalities is one thing I hate doing. I'd rather deal with an irritated and cranky Vegeta then deal with them.

"Alright, dear," my mother says, "maybe you should go back to bed, get some more rest."

"I'm fine," I say as I push myself up from the table and walk away to go take a shower. I didn't even touch my coffee.

---

Yamcha has just walked into the house. I see him from where I'm sitting on the sofa in my living room. I sigh and call out his name for him to come here which he does with a huge smile. I tolerate him leaning down and kissing me before taking a seat beside me. What I really want to do is scream at him.

"I'm glad you're alright, babe, I heard on the news this morning about the break in," he starts to say to me.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" I snap back, "it happened at night when the offices are closed. Why would I be there?"

I can tell he's a little taken back by my attitude and it takes him a moment to formulate a response, "I just worry about you is all. I've really missed you these last few weeks."

I shrug, "that's a shame." Why does even the sight of this man irritate me now? Just the sound of his voice gets on my nerves. I want to blame it on my lack of sleep and the stress from the night before, but I really just don't know.

"Bulma," he says finally in a serious tone, "are you still mad at me? Because if you are, I think we should talk about this."

I shake my head, "no, I'm not still mad at you. Honestly, I don't even care."

"Then what's up?" he asks, "does it have something to do with Vegeta?" There's that suspicious and untrusting tone of his again.

I close my eyes and try to fight back the anger that threatens to erupt. It doesn't work, "why does it always have to be about him?" I scream as I jump to my feet. "Why, Yamcha, why? God, he is not the reason for everything in my life! He is not the reason for my bad moods! If it wasn't for his holier-then-thou attitude and his demands, he'd be the perfect houseguest! At least he isn't always following me around like a little puppy!"

"Is that how you see me, Bulma?" Yamcha replies as he gets to his feet and faces me, "as nothing more then a little puppy?"

I narrow my eyes at him, "maybe I don't, but maybe I do, I don't have a damn clue anymore!"

"Well, you need to figure it out, because I sure as hell love you and if you don't feel the same way about me, then this relationship is lost," he states in a calm voice. I want to make him mad, I want to make him scream and yell at me, I want to make him give me a reason to break up with him. He continues in the same calm voice, "I'm going to go, but I want to say one thing before I do and I want you to actually think about this and not just freak out. You never started treating me like this until Vegeta came around. You say he doesn't have to do with this or that, but he does have to do with our relationship, and you and I both know it." His expression turned so sad that even I couldn't bare to yell at him again. He gave me a sad smile before turning and walking out of my living room.

I sat down again, completely stunned. Was Yamcha actually right? Did Vegeta have something to do with the way I've been treating him lately? I don't understand how it could, but it seems like it does. It's true that I didn't start treating Yamcha like this until Vegeta started staying here, but that could just be a coincidence. I don't feel anything for Vegeta more then annoyance and maybe a hint of friendship. Even if I did, nothing could ever come of it, he's proven on more then one occasion that he's incapable of caring for another person. Maybe if his eyes weren't so empty and lifeless, things would be different. What am I thinking? Am I actually thinking of having a relationship with that man? I must be more tired then I originally thought if this is what's going through my head.

Why do I care about him at all? He proved the night before that I don't mean anything to him. I sigh as I realise that I do actually care about his well-being but that doesn't mean that it's anything more then that. I really have an urge to go see if he's alright now that I'm thinking about him. He's been training all day in the gravity chamber and… wait… the gravity chamber? I fly to my feet, my eyes wide in horror. The gravity chamber! I had scribbled some plans for it's upgrade when I was at work and bored one day. I didn't see them in the mess of my office, but I easily could have missed them. My heart pounds faster as I realise the horror this situation. The technology I had scribbled down wasn't human, it was saiyan. That could be dangerous in the wrong hands, very dangerous. I run to the door and throw on my jacket. I have to go check, I have to go make sure that those plans didn't fall into the wrong hands.


	5. Chapter 5

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 5

I slam the front door as hard as I can as I walk through it into my house. It didn't alleviate any of my frustration like I had hoped it would. I don't know what to do or what to think as I sit down on my living room sofa. I lean forward and place my face in my hands, trying not to let out tears of complete failure. Not only did I have to wait two hours to get near my office because it was being investigated, but after I had, it took another couple of hours just to take stock of all the papers and plans. The one thing I had hoped would be there came up absent. The updated plans were not there which means they are in the hands of someone potentially very dangerous right now. Why hadn't I taken those home with me? They should never had been left there. I feel so stupid. I'm supposed to be a genius and I didn't even think to bring home those plans. I shudder to think what someone malicious could achieve with those. I had written down so many small notes about Saiyan technology that there must be enough there to inform them of what it's capabilities are. I don't know what to do about this. Half of me wants to just curl up, cry and hope it all just goes away.

Unfortunately, a voice breaks through my self abusive thoughts and I look up to see my mother standing over me. I can barely even manage a small smile for her, "was there something you wanted?" I ask, trying to mask my worries.

She frowns and takes in my appearance. "No, honey, I just heard you get in. Were you down at the office?"

I nod and sigh, "yeah, but there's no new leads. There's not even any fingerprints to go off of."

She smiles cheerily and says to me, "well, I'm sure they'll come up with something, darling. After all, that's what the security and police are for. I wouldn't worry about it. Just stay home and relax for a few days. A little vacation, that's what you need."

I don't need a vacation, I think, I need to find out who took those plans. I need to find a way to get them back. I don't tell my mother this, she wouldn't understand and on the rare chance that she did, I didn't want to let anyone know what a huge mistake I made. I can handle this on my own, I know that I can. Before I have a chance to think up something to tell my mother, my father walks in, just getting home himself.

"Well, this is perplexing," he says as he walks in and sits down beside me on the sofa, "I'd love to know how this was pulled off. It must have been a masterful feat of technology. Some kind of cloaking device I think."

I smile genuinely at my father, always the one to get caught up in the possible scientific advantages of anything. "Daddy, don't you think we'd be better off finding out how to keep this from happening again?" I ask.

"Oh, of course, of course," he replies with a pat on my arm, "but I can have my little bit of fun and adventure while I'm at it."

"I'll leave you two to talk this over," Mom pipes up as she starts to move towards the hallway, "and I'll go get dinner started."

I watch her leave before looking back to my father, "do you really think it was the work of a cloaking device? It's possible that it could've been an alien or even a poltergeist."

"I honestly don't know, Bulma," he replies, "but I'm more apt to bet on technology being the culprit."

I nod as I let a few thoughts ramble through my brain, "but there's few people who really have the intellect to complete something as complex as a cloaking device that would even keep fingerprints and other evidence from showing up," and now they possess the secret to saiyan technology, I continued in my mind. These people are obviously dangerous enough without adding alien technology to their arsenal.

Dad shrugs, "I wouldn't worry about it, Bulma. There's nothing we can really do right now except cooperate with the investigators."

I sigh and frown, "I guess, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"I know, neither do I. But I'm too old to go chasing people I can't see," he says with a slight smile as he gets up from the sofa and disappears into the hallway.

I bring my legs up in front of my body and wrap my arms around them, laying my chin on my knees. I'm going to have to go back to Capsule Corporation during the night to do my own investigating but first I have to do some research and developing. If the investigators can't find anything, there's no chance I'd be able to with the same tools. I'm going to have to build something that can find and track personal energy levels, then hope that few people have been in my office to avoid getting those energies mixed up. I sigh and get up off the sofa to stretch. No sense working on it tonight, I'm too tired to even think about how I'm going to pull this off. I follow in the same direction that my parents had before and start the long walk down the central hallway.

I make it to the back of the building and walk out the back door to the deck. I smile as I see the familiar muscular form of my houseguest sitting on one of the chairs with his feet propped up on the rail. A novel is held up in front of his face, his only light coming from the setting sun and the outside light attached to the building behind him. I walk over and lean my back against the same railing he has his feet propped up on and wait for him to acknowledge me, which he never does. I roll my eyes and with a swift movement, knock his feet off the railing.

He takes his eyes away from the novel long enough to glare at me. "What?" he snaps.

"Why aren't you training?" I ask, curious as to why he wasn't beating his body down. "I thought you've been in the gravity room all day."

His expression turns snotty as he replies, "I'm still waiting for a wench to fix it for me."

My eyes widen slightly as I remember my promise from the night before. I told him that I would finish fixing his precious gravity room this morning when I got up. Unfortunately, the whole incident with the break in made it slip my mind. "I completely forgot," I admitted.

"I didn't notice," he replies sarcastically before turning his attention back to the novel in his hands.

I sigh and shake my head. He's still mad at me for the night before, not to mention that my lack of attention to his training needs for the day probably didn't help his attitude towards me. "I'm sorry," I say quietly, "I just… I had to go to the office today and I completely forgot I was supposed to fix it for you."

He shrugs coldly, never once looking back up from the novel he's reading.

Interested, I take a step closer to him and bend down until my face is level with the cover of the novel that he more then likely found laying around the house. I notice him glance over the top of the novel at me, raising an eyebrow slightly in curiosity. "Just seeing what you're reading," I explain and proceed to read the title, 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens. "Wow," I say and stand up straight again, "I had to read that in high school, definitely not something I'd consider light reading for when I'm bored."

"That just goes to show the gape in intelligence between you and myself," he mumbles, clearly wanting me to leave him alone.

I turn my back to him and walk back over to the railing, leaning my elbows on it and watching as the sun slowly drifts down over the horizon. I place my chin on the palms of my hands and sigh. Back when Yamcha and I actually had a relationship, we used to sit out here or take a drive into the mountains and watch the sun set. A part of me misses that, but I think it's the romance and warm body I miss more then the actual man. A part of me is struggling to find a reason to keep Yamcha around, while another part of me is struggling to let go of him. I know, and I assume he does as well, that it's time to let go and move on. It's not as hard as I thought it would be to admit to myself that there's really nothing there anymore. I still love Yamcha with all my heart, but I've come to realise that we're not meant to be together. To break up with him would at least lessen one of the complications in my life right now. I already know the next step I'm going to take with the complications arising from work. That just leaves one unresolved complication in my life and it's sitting behind me pretending I don't exist.

I turn so that I'm leaning my back against the railing again and look over at Vegeta. Earlier this morning Yamcha had asked me to realise what Vegeta means to me and I promised myself that I would. At the time, I thought it was no more then friendship but then why do I smile when I see him and why do I try so hard to have a civil conversation with him? I'm so confused about this all. I thought I couldn't stand him but yet I seek him out and push myself on him, hoping to get some kind of nice response from him. I don't even realise that I'm staring at him until I notice his eyes on mine. I turn my head away, feeling a slight blush creep across my cheeks. Those damn eyes of his, I hate them. They shouldn't be able to make me blush, I can't even remember the last time I blushed. I look over to him again and he's back to being immersed in the novel. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and walked over to stand beside him. Taking a deep breath I leaned down and pressed my lips to his cheek for a moment, "enjoy," I say quietly before unbending and swiftly turning and walking inside the building.

I couldn't help the tirade of giggles that came out of my mouth as I walked briskly down the long hallway, stopping in the middle to climb the stairs that would take me to the second story. I feel like such a dopey high school girl with a crush. The look on his face of sheer shock and horror was priceless. I did it to answer my question regarding my feelings for him and it did as it was supposed to. The rush of adrenaline I'm feeling tells me that I do have some sort of feelings for the prince. I enter my room and am careful to lock the door before walking over and plopping down on my plush bed. I lay back and stare at the ceiling, wondering slightly if I scared him off of ever coming within ten feet of me again. I could always hunt him down if he wouldn't. I'm feeling oddly giddy, it's been over ten years since I felt this way about a man. I've been with Yamcha for so long, I'm fairly surprised I can even remember what having a crush feels like. I close my eyes and smile, now all I have to do is find a way to break it to Vegeta. I wonder if he'd respond to flirting, I doubt it.

I got to my feet and walked over to my bedroom window. I looked out into the now dark sky and sighed, when did my life get so complicated?

---

I stayed in my bedroom and fiddled around with possible plans for my energy tracker for the hour or so before dinner was prepared. My mother came to get me and I followed behind her down to the dining room, completely unprepared to see Vegeta sitting at the table talking with my father. I didn't think this far ahead as to what I was going to do when I saw him next. Honestly, I didn't even think that I'd see him for a while until he rationalized the innocent show of affection. But yet, here he was, sitting at my dining room table waiting for my mother to serve dinner. I nervously took my seat across from him and tried my best to find amusement in anything that wasn't him. It didn't help that I could feel his eyes boring into me.

I finally looked up as my mother was placing the food on the table and locked eyes with Vegeta. For the first time since I met him, his eyes didn't look so empty, instead they looked tortured and just a tad confused. Maybe it was just my imagination that made me see something in them because I wanted to so bad. I didn't get a chance to decide before he looked away and to the food placed on the table.

I spent dinner more or less listening to my mother ramble on about whatever came to her mind and excused myself soon after I was done eating. I made a small deter to my lab to grab my tools before walking to the gravity chamber and going inside. I figure I'll fix this thing tonight then spend tomorrow focusing on my energy tracking device. Once inside, I get right to work. I realise that there's not much left to be done after making a quick check of the work Vegeta had done to it. I had, maybe, an hours work ahead of me and was glad for it. The less time I spend working on this, the more time I have to myself tonight. Maybe I'll call Taya and spill my guts to her about everything.

I had been working for about a half hour when I heard the door slide open and footsteps walk inside.

"About time," I hear a gruff voice say and I smile to myself, knowing Vegeta can't see while my head is stuck under the control panel.

"Well, excuse me, your highness," I replied, "but I had a break in to deal with all day."

"Your security staff is making a big deal out of nothing," he replied in a dismissive tone.

I popped my head out and made a show of rolling my eyes, "whatever, Vegeta." I grabbed the next tool I needed and shoved my head under again, "was there something you wanted?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same question about earlier," he replied, his voice a little cold.

I swore as his statement caught me off guard and I dropped my screwdriver. Thankfully, it was only the handle that hit me on the forehead. I didn't think he would bring that up. I pushed myself out from under the control panel and sat up, my hand holding my head. "Thanks a bunch," I say snottily as I pull my hand away from my forehead, not surprised to see some blood on it.

He just shrugs and leans back against one of the walls of the chamber.

I can't help the snarl that leaves my lips as I grab a clean rag out of my toolbox and hold it to my forehead. "Oh, no, I'm alright," I say sarcastically, briefly wondering what I see in this man.

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, "it's your own fault anyway. I don't know what game you're playing, but knock it off."

"Game?" I exclaim, "I'm not playing any game. Maybe I'm just attracted to your jerk self." I get to my feet and make sure I'm done bleeding before I throw the rag back into my tool box, "although I know that concept is foreign to you, you ass."

"You make a good argument by insulting me at the end of every sentence," Vegeta replies crankily and pushes away from the wall, taking a few steps towards me.

"Of course that's what you'd focus on," I say and roll my eyes, "you know what, just forget I ever said anything at all." I laid back on the ground and pulled myself back under the control panel. I waited until I heard the door open and close again before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. That definitely was not supposed to happen.

-----------------------

A/N: Thank you to all my great reviewers, keep it up, I love to read them.


	6. Chapter 6

Windows to the Soul

A/N:

A Serious Authoress: This chapter is dedicated to you. To answer your question, I distanced myself from this story for several reasons, most of which were time constraints: I got married, my husband and I moved, I moved from using the desktop to a laptop and lost half this chapter (it was no good anyway), I wasn't overly sure what I wanted to do next with this story, and finally, I've been suffering from hypersomnia right now due to stress and a few other factors, but basically, I sleep half the day away and am always tired. I didn't want to write a chapter that I couldn't be proud of posting. I've been wanting to update this story, and you've given me a little push to do so. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 6

I haven't seen Vegeta for almost two weeks. I don't know whether this is a good or bad sign, or maybe even no sign at all. I'm sure he's still around the compound. I'm guilty of having checked on the gravity chamber stats every now and again. It seems that most of his training is being done at night and during the day while I'm at the office. I can only suspect that he sleeps in the evening when I'm home, although I have no way to monitor his room, like I can the gravity chamber. I have the impression that he's trying to avoid me. As much as it does bother me, I've managed to push it into the back of my mind. I have more important things to worry about then Vegeta and his moodiness. I've just about completed the energy tracker that I had started work on. It's taking longer than I had anticipated, but I'm working my way through it. I've also completed several of the projects that I've been working on for the company, and will be flying to an island location to be there for the final testing and the shooting of ads for a moisture seal I've been working on. The ads will feature it being applied over freshly manicured nails to protect them from the moisture of the ocean and from becoming soft. Of course it can be used for many other purposes, but marketing has decided that this is the angle that they wish to take with it.

When I mentioned the campaign to Taya and Lait, Lait jumped on the opportunity to be in the ad and commercials. I didn't question it at the time as I was glad to have a friend along for the trip, but Lait has never wanted to do any work for Capsule Corporation. I figure she just wants a free trip out of it. We'll be leaving in two days and staying at the location for three. From there, Lait is heading home and I am going to a business seminar for another three days. I've been asked to speak from a daughters' point of view on taking over a company created by her father in a predominantly male field. I figure I can get in some good shopping while I'm there.

Truth be told, I am slightly anxious about leaving Vegeta here unattended. No one can handle him quite like I can, not that I've had the chance lately. I've been trying to tell myself that he'll be fine, and won't even notice I'm gone, which is probably true. I think I'll miss him. I think I already do miss him. I think I've gone crazy.

I look at the itinerary that my assistant has written up for the trip and sigh. I'm looking forward to this trip so much, I really need it after all the stress the break in has caused. There still hasn't been any further word about it, but security has been upped at night. I haven't bothered to mention how they managed to evade security once, and will probably again regardless of how many guards they have posted. I've been especially careful about bringing any and all plans and notes home with me if they could cause a problem, so I'm not overly worried.

I've also been working on some training bots for Vegeta in my spare time. I want to test my understanding of Saiyan technology before I build it into the gravity chamber, so I thought it best to start with something small. I plan to finish them tonight and go install them before Vegeta goes to use the chamber. If he wants to be immature and avoid me, then who am I to interfere?

I'm in my lab at home, sitting at my computer. I'm just going over the last figures and calculations to make sure I made the training bots as close to Saiyan technology as I could. I think I have, but a miscalculation could result in a burnt fuse, or a wire disconnecting, or a big explosion, so I figure it best to double check. My parents wouldn't appreciate part of our house being blown up because I decided to experiment.

I yawn and close my eyes. I've been working hard these past couple of weeks, trying to keep my mind occupied with whatever I can. I've been trying to avoid thinking about my personal problems, or rather the two men who are causing the problems. Yamcha called me once throughout the week, but I let the answering machine pick up. He said that he missed me, and wanted to see me, and talk to me. He also said that I need to tell him where we stand. I was good while listening to his message up until he mentioned that last part. I know what I have to do, and what I have to tell him, but I can't find the strength too. We've been broken up before, but this time I know that it's for good. I know that prolonging it isn't making it any better, but I don't want to hurt him. He means a lot to me and I want to remain friends with him if at all possible.

I get up and stretch my back, before kneeling on the ground where a large cylinder shaped robot sat. I picked up the screwdriver that was sitting beside it and got down to work.

--

I've been sitting in the gravity chamber for the last hour and a half trying to program this robot into the main control panel of the chamber. It's being a pain in my ass. I've re-wired part of this panel twice already and it still isn't set up right. I'm starting to get frustrated and I know his royal pain is going to be coming in soon. I was hoping to be scarce before he came in, but I can't leave the panel the way it is right now. He'd have a complete fit.

I let out a curse because of a wire sparking just as I hear the door slide open. "One word and you're a dead man," I say without even turning around. I'm frustrated enough without dealing with him.

"What are you doing?" He asks, and I hear the door slide shut again. His voice is suspicious, and he probably thinks that I'm ruining his toy.

"Chill out, alright?" I said, throwing a look over my shoulder at him from where I was seated on the floor. "I'm just trying to set up a new training bot for you."

"I'm fine with the ones I have," he replied gruffly.

"Yeah, well, this isn't just for you," I stated, "I'm testing something."

"I didn't agree to be a test subject," he growled. His voice was closer than before.

"If this works, I should be able to enforce the chamber with this technology," I told him, "which means, less chance of you breaking it."

"I don't break it," he retorted, "it was shabby work to begin with."

"Whatever you say," I say with a chuckle.

I go back to my wiring. I start to speak, uncomfortable with the silence, "I haven't seen you in a while."

I hear a grunt of affirmation.

"I'm surprised you haven't broken anything lately," I say, "machine-wise or bones for that matter."

"It's not because your work is getting any better," he replies with a snarl.

"Oh, I know," I reply with a roll of my eyes. Silence ensues for a few minutes. I don't like the quiet. I don't like being frustrated either, but this panel, wiring and bot combination is just not working for me. I let out a noise of frustration and hurtle the pliers I was holding across the chamber. I get to my feet and start to pace back and forth, all the while knowing the man leaning against the wall is watching me like a hawk with an insufferable smirk on his face.

"Such anger problems," he says with a tone of amusement.

I turn on him. I am in no mood for games right now. I walk up to him and poke him squarely in the chest, "I do not have anger problems! You, you jerk, are the one with anger problems," I practically yell at him, "I just have stupid technology."

He actually has the audacity to chuckle at me, "no, you have two incompatible technologies. You always go on about how smart you are, but I've yet to see you prove it."

I growl and turn on my heel to retrieve the pliers I sent sailing before. "I'm glad you find this so amusing. Maybe I'll just leave you with this mess then."

He shrugs, which I reply to with another growl. I plop myself down in front of the offending technology again. "Do you know how to make this work?" I finally ask after a period of time. I listen as his footsteps get closer and watch out of the corner of my eye as he sits down beside me. I try to ignore his closeness.

He picks up the training bot and inspects the wiring that I need to use to download it's information to the main panel of the chamber. He rolls his eyes, "pale imitation of Saiyan technology," he mutters, to which I narrow my eyes at him. "Get out of my way," he instructs.

"Say 'please'," I reply, with a half smile.

He turns a look on me that would've worked to scare an opponent, but I wasn't an opponent, and it just made me full out smile at him. "You're cute when you're rude," I tell him and can't help but laugh at the deadly look that crossed over his features.

"You are-" he starts, but I interrupt him.

"Beautiful? Smart? Gorgeous? All of the above?"

He just shakes his head, "irritating. Move."

"Move?" I repeat, forgetting that was what he wanted me to do in the first place. "Oh, yeah," I move over some so that he can get in front of the panel where I was working. I watch silently for a few minutes. "Well, I guess you'll be good for the next week without me."

"I've managed the last two," he replied, and waited a moment before asking, "where will you be next week?"

"I have some work stuff to take care of. Some testing and advertising to do, then I have a business seminar to speak at," I told him, "nothing entertaining."

He grunted in reply.

"I guess I have some learning to do," I mention, "before I can use this same idea to re-enforce the chamber. Unless you want to do all the work for me," I joked.

Vegeta shrugged, "I don't care."

I smiled and nodded. As tempting as it was to let him deal with it all after I created it, I was too hands-on to let that happen. I watched as he finished the work and stood so that I could move in to download the information necessary to the consol. I set it up to download before standing as well. "Thanks," I say with a small smile, "that was driving me nuts." I see the smirk on his face, "no comments," I say quickly with a laugh. I take a deep breath, knowing I have to say something about what has gone on. I have to clear the air between us, "you don't have to avoid me, you know."

"Who said I was avoiding you?" He replied and leaned back against the control consol.

"Give me some credit," I replied, "I can be observant." I frowned, "I don't want you to avoid me. I mean, gees, you were always around when I was a bitch, and you take off when I try to be nice." I was trying to avoid looking into his eyes, which were trained on my face. I took the excuse of my download finishing to kneel down and remove the wires, and re-connect the outer panel. I stood and smiled at him, "I'm done here, so I'll leave you to your training. I probably won't see you again before I leave, so I guess this is goodbye."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow in entertainment, "you are coming back, you know."

"Maybe," I reply with a mysterious smile, "or I could meet some foreign, exciting stranger who whisks me off."

"Woman, no man in his right mind would have you," he stated, with a small, amused smirk.

"I guess it bodes well for me then that you aren't in your right mind," I reply, trying my best to imitate his smirk. When he doesn't respond or change his expression, I take a testing step towards him, successfully removing all but a couple inches of space between us. I notice him tense, and I realize that he doesn't trust me. That realization hurts somewhat, but I know I never have given him any reason to trust me. He doesn't move away from me, and keeps his eyes trained on my face. I didn't plan this and I don't know which plan of action to take. I can barely think. I can just feel his breath on my skin, and look into those dangerous dark eyes. Somewhere inside of me, I know that if I back down now, I will never have this chance again. I close the small distance between us and press my body lightly to his. His eyes are searching mine, looking for answers. I wish I had them to give him. I know I can't hesitate, I can show no uncertainty to him, or it would push him away. I move my head forward, close my eyes, and press my lips to his. They were warm, but still and unmoving.

I kept my hands at my sides, not wanting to overwhelm him with physical contact that he's not used to. I move my lips to try to coax him into moving his, which he does finally. I don't know what to think. It's taking everything I have to restrain myself from touching him, and pressing my body more firmly against his. Whatever part of my brain is still working, is warning me that if I try too much, he'll push me away.

My head is swirling, my stomach is queasy, and I feel weak, but it feels so good. All too soon, he takes a step back and away from me. I open my eyes at the loss of contact and watch him. He's watching me again, his eyes still searching. I want to re-establish contact, but I also know he probably needs time. I smile at him and nod my head, trying to communicate to him that I understand and by leaving, I'm not walking away from him. I turn and walk out the door, leaving him to his training and his thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

Windows to the Soul

A/N: Thank you for the congratulations. Hope to see more reviews this time around, I love to read them.

Chapter 7

I love the sun, and the beach. This assignment for work was more like a vacation for me than anything else. It's the second day of my island getaway, and we're starting on the advertising aspects, having finished the testing the first day here. The advertising depends more on Brock, the marketing director, then on me. This is fine by me, as I am more than happy to sit in the sand watching them. Every now and then I give my input, but this really isn't my domain and Brock is very successful in what he does.

I slowly apply some suntan lotion on my arms, legs and stomach. The whole crew is decked out in beachwear and seems to be enjoying it. I know I am. I found this gorgeous navy bikini, with an elegant white design on sale in the winter and this has been my first opportunity to show it off.

Lait is working on some commercials currently, and then we're going to move into print ads. I'm surprised that she hasn't been all over Brock like she normally is with any attractive male. Brock is over six feet tall and built, with shaggy black hair and brown eyes. Very few of the women at the office haven't gone out with him in the five years he's been employed with us. I went out with him once when I was broken up with Yamcha, but that was more to get back at Yamcha than anything else.

Thinking about Yamcha reminds me of what I have to do still. I'm a coward, I know, but I can't help it. I'm currently entertaining thoughts of calling him from the hotel, and telling him over the phone. I don't think I'm that big of a jerk though, but who knows.

I know I should end it before I try anything more with Vegeta, since technically, I am still in a relationship. I haven't seen him since I installed the new bot in the gravity chamber, which disappoints me. I don't know why I expected him to come around me more, I should have known better. There's a battle going on inside of my head. I want to get closer to him, but there's a voice in the back of my head screaming about what a bad idea that is. I think I know what I'm getting into, but with Vegeta involved, I can never be sure. I know who he is, and what he's done. I know I should be wary of him, but I just don't believe that he'd hurt me. Maybe this is foolish on my part, but I can't help it.

Lait's loud, fake laugh knocks me out of my thoughts as she gracefully bounces over to me and sits down beside me. I'm fairly certain it would be illegal if she were to wear any less than what she is currently. Brock follows her over and sits down opposite us. I smile at them, "what's up?"

"Break time," Lait informs with a quiet giggle.

"The crew's gone to fetch the food," Brock supplies, "so, we thought we'd come hang with you."

"Aren't I lucky?" I reply.

"I know I am," Brock licks his lips as he makes a show of looking my body up and down.

"Down, boy," Lait laughed, and playfully smacked his shoulder. I just rolled my eyes.

"Hey, you're the one who told me she was single," Brock laughed and defended himself.

My eyes shoot to Lait, "excuse me?"

"Oh, chill out, Bulma," Lait replies and makes a dismissive motion with her hand, "you're the one who told me that you're breaking up with Yamcha."

I glare at her, "that doesn't mean you have to go around telling people that I'm single."

"Whatever," Lait rolls her eyes. "You have to lighten up, have a fling. You were with Yamcha for, like, ever. It's time to live, baby doll."

I suddenly remember why I always make sure Taya's around whenever Lait is. Taya helps to combat Lait's obnoxious personality. "Last time I checked, I am living, or else, I'd be dead," I get out through gritted teeth.

"Hey, I mean no offence, I'm just trying to help," Lait says with a smile in my direction, "you don't have to get all moody at me."

I just shake my head and keep my mouth shut as Lait and Brock start up a conversation between them.

--

It's past nine at night and I'm standing in the middle of the hotel suite the company rented for myself, Lait, Brock, and the head of testing. We share the common room, and then there are four separate bedrooms off of it. The rest of the crew, the cameramen and such, have rooms rented in the lower part of the hotel.

The rest of the crew went out for dinner a few hours ago, I didn't much feel like going out with them. They were all in a party mood, and I'm not. To tell the truth, I'm lonely. Anytime I used to go on trips like this for work, I'd always bring Yamcha along with me. He loved the free vacations and I loved the company. I thought that since Lait was coming, I'd have company, but she's more interested in hanging out with the crew then paying any attention to me. I know I seem like a spoiled brat right now, but I have a strict rule against partying with employees and co-workers. I did that for the first trip I took for the company and afterwards, no one wanted to listen to me. I had to fire someone to make them realize that I was their boss and not their buddy. I vowed to never make that mistake again.

I get up from the plush leather sofa I was sitting on and walk over to the sliding doors that lead out to a balcony. It was a cold night out, so I opted to stand inside the doors and just stare out. There were hardly any clouds, making it a very clear night. I stared up at the sky and felt my mind drift to the man at home. The darkness of the sky reminds me of his eyes, so dark and unrelenting. The changes they go through are so subtle, but I'm starting to pick up on it. They always stay shrouded in darkness though. I wonder how he's doing at home with my parents. I haven't heard anything on the news of Capsule Corporation mysteriously blowing up, so I know it can't be too bad. I really should have more faith in him, but I know his temper can get pretty explosive. I sigh and turn away from the doors when I hear the door to the room opening. Lait walks in and smiles at me. I smile back, although I really don't want to.

"You should have come, Bulma," Lait says as she gently sits on the sofa, "it was wonderful."

I shrug, "not my thing."

"Darling, when you get back after this trip we are grabbing Taya and going out to a few clubs, and see if we can't scare up a few drinks and a few yummy guys," Lait suggests as she lounges back.

"Lait, I'm not looking for a new guy," I tell her quietly and turn back to the sky, hoping that she gets the hint and drops it. I've never really been one for clubbing anyway, I'd much rather just hang out with a bunch of friends.

"You're not one of those people who need all this time to get over a break up, are you?" I can almost hear her roll her eyes as this statement comes out of her mouth.

I smile. I haven't even broken up with Yamcha yet and I'm already moving onto my next guy. "No," I say simply.

A few moments of silence pass before Lait speaks again, "Brock kept talking about you all night. He seems really interested in going out with you."

"I'm not interested in going out with him," I reply and turn to face her.

"Why not?" she pouts. "He's a great guy, smart, funny, and oh so hot. He'd be perfect for you."

I just shake my head, "why are you pushing this?"

"I'm not pushing it, honey, you just don't see a good thing when it's right in front of you. Brock deserves a real chance, not some date just to get back at your ex. He's not a playboy, or a flirt, he's ready to settle down with one woman," Lait continued on, not realizing that all she was doing was pissing me off.

"Would you stop trying to sell him to me," I seethed. That voice in my head that was against me seeing Vegeta started to talk again, this time about how Vegeta would never 'settle down'. I tried my best to ignore it. I turned away from her and walked into my bedroom, tired of listening to her.

--

I walked into Capsule Corporation after my short vacation a bit more tan, and several thousand dollars poorer. Shopping is always good for distracting my mind. I was all smiles as I walked through the building to the living room, until I heard the ruckus that was coming from it.

I gasp as Yamcha comes flying out backwards and slams into the wall. I hurry over to him as he's getting to his feet. His lips are pulled back in an angry snarl and his cheek is already starting to bruise. I place a hand on his chest to keep him from going back into the living room, before turning to find Vegeta glaring at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What is going on here?" I ask, obviously pissed off.

Vegeta just turns his head to the side and tips his chin back in arrogance. I turn to Yamcha.

"Bulma, he's got to go! That asshole threatened your parents!" Yamcha exclaimed.

"Ah, what?" I practically yell.

"Well, he must've anyway. Your father has been fixing stuff for him the last few days, and your mother has been cooking for him nonstop! I've never known your parents to be so nice," Yamcha states and crosses his arms.

I roll my eyes. My parents weren't overly fond of him, but somehow, they seem to like Vegeta, which confuses me to no end and I prefer not to think about it. I realize Yamcha mentioned the 'last few days'. "Yamcha, have you been here for a few days?" I ask.

"Yeah, I've been waiting for you to get back, and, uh, I got a little problem that I was hoping you could help me with," Yamcha says as he lowers his head in embarrassment.

I frown and grab his arm to pull him away from the room and the volatile Saiyan inside it. I take him out back to the deck, where we both take a seat around a glass table. I'm the first to speak, wanting to get this over with. I know what I have to do, "Yamcha, I'm glad you're here, I've been meaning to speak with you."

He nods, "I think I know what you're going to say anyway, although, I'm hoping it's not what I'm thinking." His eyes start to look sad, and I feel guilty.

I frown, "I'm sorry, but it is what you think."

"I'm sorry too," he replies quietly.

"I want to stay friends, if that's alright," I mention, hoping my voice has an upbeat tone to it.

He nods again, "I said I had a problem earlier. I need a favor from you."

"Sure," I reply with a smile, "just ask."

"I got kicked out of my apartment and need a place to stay until I move to a new one next month…" he trails off. "That's kinda why I've been staying here the last few days."

I open my mouth to say something but close it again. I don't know what to say. I don't think it's a good idea that he stays here, not with Vegeta here. Plus, he would get in the way of my pursuing Vegeta. "Yamcha," I start, "I don't think staying here would be a good idea." I take a deep breath and continue, "you've only been here for a few days and you've already gotten into a fight with Vegeta. You two can't coexist in a shared space."

"So, who means more to you?" Yamcha asked, his tone turning angry. "We were together for ten years, and you won't help me out because of some killer staying here? That's low, Bulma, really low."

"Watch your mouth," I exclaim and stand up. I place my palms on the table in front of me and lean towards him slightly, "don't you dare judge me for my decisions, and don't judge Vegeta for what he was forced to do."

"We're not together, I don't take orders from you anymore, Bulma," he replied, getting up. "It's not my damn fault that you're too blind with infatuation to realize that the man living in your house is a killer, a cold blooded murderer. I don't know how you sleep at night knowing that thing is in the same building as you."

I narrow my eyes at him, "shut up," I seethe, "get whatever shit you have here with you and get out." I turn away from him and walk into the building and up the stairs. I go straight to my room and go to work putting away all the stuff I had bought, trying to keep my mind off of the ignorant man about to walk out of my life.

--

I was hoping that Vegeta would be joining us for dinner, but no such luck. I spent the meal telling my parents all about my trip, and feigning interest in their questions. I wanted to see Vegeta, and I wanted to talk to him.

After dinner I went out back to the same deck that I had stood on hours before, and looked out at the gravity chamber, which was turned off. I sigh and lean forward on the railing, looking out at the night sky. Is he avoiding me again, or am I just being paranoid? Did I really expect him to be glad to have me home and seek me out? I chuckle, knowing that I shouldn't have such expectations.

--

I had decided to stay out there for a while since it was such a beautiful night. I guess I had dozed off on the wooden bench we had, since I was awoken by footsteps some time later. I open my eyes to see the shadowed figure of the man I've been waiting all day to see. I smile and he cocks an eyebrow in amusement. "Where have you been hiding all day?" I ask.

He shrugs and walks over to the railing, leaning back on it, "nowhere," he replies, "training."

I nod and silence ensues for a few minutes, until he breaks it

"Someone was snooping around while you were gone," he says.

I let out a huff of air, "great." I roll my eyes, "who was it? Was it media, or investigators on the break in case?"

"That insufferable female you call a friend," he replies.

"Huh?" I ask, confused. Lait? What would she be doing around here while I was gone?

"Thought you would want to know," he says and makes a move to enter the building.

"Sit," I say, "talk to me for a bit?" I ask, and pout, hoping that he's not so abnormal that he can ignore a pretty girl pouting at him.

He rolls his eyes, but comes and sits beside me anyway.

"Break anything this week?" I ask him, and smile when he narrows his eyes at me.

"Only a few of your inferior bots," he replies with a smirk.

I roll my eyes, "you know, normally, a person would learn after the first time they break something to be more careful with it."

"Most people would learn after something they made got broken, to make better equipment," he replies.

I smack his arm, "shut up."

He looks at where I smacked him and back at me, "weakling," he mutters.

"Jerk," I mutter back. I let the silence linger for a few moments, enjoying being near him without arguing. "How did you and Yamcha get along the last few days?"

"He's lucky I didn't do more then punch him," Vegeta tells me, annoyance in his voice.

"Be happy, he won't be coming back here," I state, a little sad that I lost a friend.

"Good," is all he says.

I bring my legs up underneath me and lean my side against Vegeta, placing my head on his shoulder. He grunts but doesn't move. I close my eyes, reveling in his warmth, and masculine scent.

"If you fall asleep, I'm leaving," he tells me.

I smile and chuckle, "I'm not going to fall asleep. Did you miss me this week?" I ask, knowing that his answer will include an insult.

He scoffs, "I was just starting to enjoy being left alone, when that idiot showed up."

"I'll take that as a 'yes, Bulma, I missed you very much'," I say with a laugh.

"You may want to get in touch with reality," he states.

"You may want to get out of touch with denial," I reply, and snuggle closer to him. "You can tolerate me, and you know it."

"You have your uses," he says.

"Oh, be still my heart," I joke. "Such kinder words have never been spoken to me." I try to stifle a yawn, as I settle in and close my eyes again.

"I wouldn't doubt it," he says, half amused.

"Jerk," I insult him quietly as I yawn again, feeling myself drifting off to sleep, only to be awakened by him moving.

"Come on," he says, taking my arm and helping me up, "you're not sleeping out here."

"But I was comfy," I whine, as he leads me into the house. I let him lead me up the stairs as I try to wake up fully. "I like sleeping with you," I say in my half-asleep state, before realizing what I said, and slapping a hand to my mouth. I giggle nervously, but he just rolls his eyes as he lets go of my arm outside my bedroom.

He smirks at me and leans his face in close. My breath hitches at his initiated closeness. "I may take you up on that offer soon enough," he says quietly, his voice amused, his face mischievous.

I know he's just playing mind games with me, so I decide to play one of my own. I move forward to close the gap between us and pull him into a kiss. I move my body against his and wrap my arms around his neck, not being as careful this time as last. I feel his hands grip my hips, sending a spark through my body. I open my mouth, inviting his tongue to enter, which it greedily does. Every inch of my body feels alive with sensation. I feel his hard length against my hip, and move my body more solidly against his. I haven't felt like this in years, but I slowly detangle myself from him and take a step back. I smirk at him, delighting in the arousal shown in his features, "I'll be waiting," I say in reply to his previous statement. I step into my room and close the door behind me. I lean back against it and let out a deep breath, wondering how soon 'soon' was.


	8. Chapter 8

Windows to the Soul

A/N: Authoress: I mentioned in one of the chapters that Lait wasn't going with Bulma to the conference she was attending after the island shoot, but I may not have made it that clear. I fixed all confusion in this chapter.

To everyone: I've been trying to think up plots for some one-shots and coming up with nothing. If someone, or everyone of you who review, could leave me a phrase or word (anything at all, really) for inspiration, it would make me so happy.

Thanks, and remember to review.

Chapter 8

Sleep didn't come easy to me the previous night. It was all I could do to keep my mind off of the muscular man sleeping a few doors down. I'm almost ashamed of myself, I should really start to act my age instead of acting like a giddy high school girl. But then again, what fun would that be?

I tried to keep my mind occupied by thinking about the information that Vegeta had given me before I made a fool of myself. He had told me that Lait was snooping around here after filming had finished and I had flown to the conference. She hadn't come with me, as she was only in it for the island vacation, not the bustling downtown city atmosphere where the conference was being held. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out any reason why Lait would be hanging out around my house while I wasn't there. Well, there was one reason, but Vegeta hadn't mentioned her hitting on him, so I figured that wasn't it. It perplexed me, and left me feeling a bit uneasy. I had decided to place a call to Lait when I woke up the next day.

Waking up wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had woken up several times throughout the early and late morning, and didn't manage to drag my butt out of bed until half past noon.

I step out of the shower and throw on a loose red t-shirt and black satin pajama pants. This was my first full day home and I was not going to do any work. My plan for the day included nothing but relaxation, and maybe the opportune make out session with Vegeta. I feel a smile spread across my face as I remember the intensity from the night before. I grab an elastic and tie my wet, long hair back into a ponytail and leave my room. I can't help but have an extra bounce in my step. I'm happy to be home, happy to have things finished with Yamcha, and happy to have things progressing with Vegeta.

I make my way downstairs and to the kitchen where I see my mother standing over the stove. I walk over to her and place a quick peck on her cheek as I reach around her and grab a piece of turkey. "Vegeta joining us for lunch?" I ask, motioning to the full turkey and several other meats and side dishes on the counters and the stove. I sit down at the kitchen table and nibble on the piece of turkey I swiped.

My mother just giggles in her way and says, "probably. He's taken to eating meals with us lately. Your father enjoyed the conversation while you were away, and I didn't mind the shop talk so much when I had a gorgeous man to stare at," she laughs again, "oh, there I go again. I swear, sometimes I just forget my mind. He is very good-looking though, isn't he, Bulma?"

I smile at the back of her head, "I think he's a little too young for you, Mom."

"Oh, goodness gracious no, dear," she exclaims, giggling once more as she takes the meat off the stove, "he must be around your age. Although, if I wasn't married and about twenty years younger…" she trails off.

I just shake my head, and finish off the piece of turkey, "so, you like Vegeta, do you?"

"He's something special," she says and turns to me with a smile, "he's the type of man who you could get lost in."

"Don't I know it," I mumble, as I hear the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. I smile at my father as he enters and sits down at the table opposite me. "Shouldn't you be at work?" I tease.

"Now, Bulma, even a genius such as myself deserves some time to eat," my father responds, "I was only over in the lab anyway."

"Always slacking off," I say with a clique of my tongue.

My mother starts moving dishes to the table as the Prince walks through the door. His skin is slightly flushed and a few beads of sweat are trailing down his arms. He's wearing black track pants and a tight black tank top.

I smile at him as he sits down beside me. He glances at me and narrows his eyes, before turning back to the food in front of him. I chuckle and start placing some food on my plate. I notice my mother sit across from him and give him a flirty look, which he pointedly ignores. I shake my head and focus on my food.

Lunch is filled with lots of shop talk between my father, Vegeta and myself. It's amusing to hear Vegeta's take on Earth technology when he isn't just insulting it for the sake of insulting me. He's still insulting it, just giving better reasons than he usually gives me.

I finish eating and go out to the deck, half to spend some time outdoors, and half to catch Vegeta on his way back to his favorite toy. I wouldn't say I'm plotting, I'm just strategically placing myself at the proper places at the proper times. I figure the only way I'll get him to myself for a few minutes is to catch him coming from or going to the gravity chamber. That man trains way too much. Only a few minutes pass before I hear him walk out onto the deck. I turn to him with a smile, leaning back against the railing.

He stops at the middle of the deck and rolls his eyes, "what?" he snaps.

"Someone's not in a very nice mood," I observe with a frown.

"Someone had a hard time getting rest last night after someone's actions," he growls.

I chuckle, "you started it, I just finished it."

"No, the problem is that you didn't finish it," he snarled, narrowing his eyes at me again.

I smile and walk over to him, stopping a few inches in front of him. "You a little hard up for attention, Vegeta?" I ask in as seductive a voice as I can manage. It suddenly dawns on me that it's probably been a long time since he's had sex, since I know for certain he hasn't had it since he's been on Earth.

He rolls his eyes and tries to push past me, but I jump in front of him again. "What, now?" he spits out.

"You ever get the feeling that I'm the only one taking any initiative in this relationship?" I ask.

"So what?" he responds. I expected him to deny the existence of a relationship between us, and it surprised me when he didn't.

"So, I think it's your turn," I bit my bottom lip, trying to fight back the nervousness I felt building. "You know which room is mine, I'll be going to bed around midnight, show up if you want to." I kept eye contact with him for a moment longer, trying to read his expression, before moving around him and entering back into the house. I silently cursed his eyes for not giving up anything he was thinking or feeling. I felt like I was going into tonight completely blind.

--

I nibble on the gourmet chicken dish sitting in front of me, almost too nervous about what that night may entail to eat. I glance across the table to see Taya staring at me. I swallow the food in my mouth before asking, "what?" I had taken the cowards way out and invited Taya out for supper, opting not to have a tension filled supper with my parents and Vegeta. I didn't want to face him again until if he showed up tonight.

Taya lifted an eyebrow in interest, "what's up?"

I furrowed my brows at her, "nothing. What would be up?"

"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who seems too distracted to function," she replies with a small smile.

I smile at her, "it's kind of confusing is all."

"What is?" she prompted me.

I took a deep breath to try to relax myself before opening my mouth to speak. "I sorta find out tonight whether or not I'm rejected by a guy."

Taya's eyes go wide, "I thought you just broke up with Yamcha."

I shrug my shoulders, "I did. And, this guy may have been part of the reason."

Taya smiles softly, "it's that guy testing your new training stuff, isn't it?"

"Maybe," I say softly, with a small smile.

She starts to laugh and shakes her head, "oh, Bulma, you've got it bad. 'Maybe'," she mimics me in honeyed tones.

"Shut up," I say with a laugh. "I may be a tad infatuated, but that's it."

"A tad?" she repeated, still laughing at me.

"Eat your dinner," I say with a smirk. "I'm so not telling you anymore about this."

"Oh come on, I'll be good, I promise," she pouted playfully.

I make a show of rolling my eyes, "fine, but there's not much to tell. I'm not even sure he realizes I exist some days." I frown slightly.

"Is he at least a nice to you?" Taya asks.

I shake my head, "no. Well, sometimes he's nicer than usual."

She smirks in amusement at me again, "not a word," she says before I can open my mouth to tell her to shut up again. "So," she speaks up after a few moments of silence, "has there been any word on the break in?"

I shake my head, "not a thing. I think the investigators aren't really trying anymore. I'm just about ready to put my newest creation to work to try to track the perpetrator myself, though." I smirk, thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy bringing down whoever broke into my office.

--

I pace back and forth in the middle of my bedroom. I have ten minutes before the clock strikes midnight, and I can't keep still. I don't know whether to expect him to show up or not, but I don't want to get my hopes too high in case they get dashed. If he shows up tonight, it means I'm not just a bother to him and I can continue to pursue him. If he doesn't show up tonight, then I'll know I mean nothing to him, and I can sweep up the pieces of my heart and get on with my life. I promised myself that if he doesn't show up, that I won't get too distraught. I knew from the start not to really expect anything from him, so I tried to keep myself from getting too overly attached to him. I'm not entirely sure whether I've succeeded at that or not, but I like to pretend that I have.

I can't take it anymore. I walk over to the glass doors that lead out to my private balcony, and throw them open. I step out into the cool night air and look out into the back yard. The gravity chamber is still running.

I shiver and wrap my arms around myself, remembering that I'm only wearing a short satin night gown and equally short satin robe. I curse myself for wearing such thin garments on a chilly night. My hair is loose and slightly wavy. The breeze is just strong enough to move the strands out of place. I growl slightly and move further back from the railing, trying to use the building to block some of the wind.

I see the gravity chamber power down and I feel myself hold my breath. I force myself to let the breath out, determined not to let myself get excited or eager. Yes, he's come out around midnight, but he could just be hungry, or tired. I stay back in the shadows as I watch the door slide open and the dark figure walk out into the night. He takes a few steps and stops. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as he looks up and directly at me. He knows I'm here, watching him. I stare back at him, not sure whether he can see me or whether he just feels my presence, but he doesn't move. I can almost see the contemplation I know he's under. I don't think he knows just quite what to do. I start to panic slightly, I should never have put the pressure on him to decide if we progress. He would never openly admit that he wants me, even just physically. He's not going to take the initiative to be with me in any way, and we're going to be over before we started. I can never face him again after this rejection.

I'm so engrossed in my own thoughts that it takes a few moments to realize that the man of my thoughts has started to hover above the ground. I smile, all my previous thoughts and worries evaporating as he slowly hovers upward toward my balcony. I back up through my open balcony doors, watching as he steps onto the balcony, never taking his eyes from me. I almost feel stalked and hunted as he follows me into the room. I stop moving back, and in return, he stops moving forward.

"Hi," I say quietly, smiling warmly at him. I go to take a step towards him, but he holds up his hand to tell me not to. My heart and expression plummets.

I see him roll his eyes, illuminated slightly by the moonlight coming in through the open doors. "Don't give me that look, woman," he says in a slightly irritated sounding voice. "We are going to do this, but there are two ground rules."

I feel my heart stitch itself back together. "Which are?" I prompt him.

"You do not ask where or how any of the scars on my body came to be," he says through gritted teeth, "and, you do not expect anything from me because of this."

I nod, thinking briefly over what he had said. I wonder just how many permanent marks are left on his body. Each one probably posed as a painful memory of what he was put through under Frieza's reign. I make a promise to myself not to put him through any painful recollections of his past by asking about them. His second rule was a little disheartening, but I knew from the start that I shouldn't expect anything from him, no matter how much I may want to. I place the smile on my face again and walk towards him as he lowers his hand. "I can deal with those stipulations," I say, stepping up to him.

His expression reverts back to his natural cocky smirk, which lately I've found to be more attractive then irritating. His eyes seem to get an abnormal glint to them as he grabs me around the waist and pulls me to him, successfully closing any space between our bodies. I don't get a chance to ponder this as his mouth finds its way to my exposed neck, and ceases any brain functions I seem to have had. I wrap my arms around his neck and dive one of my hands into his hair, wanting to keep his mouth to my tender skin. He grabs my hair with one of his hands and pulls it, tilting my head back and to the side so more of my neck is exposed. I let out a short moan as he nips my neck in just the right place. I remove one arm from around his neck and trail a hand down his back until I hit a small furry patch at the bottom of it. Somewhere inside my brain it clicks that this was where his tail was. I prod it slightly and move my hand over the mound, surprised when Vegeta growls softly. I wasn't aware that Saiyan tails were so sensitive.

I move two fingers over it in a circular motion, enjoying the small, soft growls I get from him. He retaliates by moving up my neck and nipping at my earlobe. His teeth are sharp, but somehow, that just makes it all the more arousing. He lets out a frustrated growl and pushes me away. "Get rid of it," he commands, sweeping his eyes over my clothed body. I smirk when his eyes linger on my exposed calves and thighs. I quickly untie my robe and drop it off my shoulders, delighting as his eyes trail up my body and to the hint of cleavage my nightgown gives. I slowly reach up and push the thin straps off my shoulders, letting that join the robe on the floor, and letting Vegeta see every inch of my body, which he regards with the look of a predator.

I see a blur of movement and suddenly find myself face up on my bed with a newly naked Vegeta leaning over top of me. He's propped up on his elbows, smirking down at me, like he's won some kind of battle. I smirk back and wrap one of my legs around his waist, urging him to lower his naked hips to mine, which he seems more than happy to comply with.

--

I feel a cold draft and reach down to pull my comforter up to my chin. I drowsily open my eyes and groan as I look at the clock and see the time to be four o'clock in the morning. I glance over to my balcony doors which are wide open, and act as a reminder to my tired brain of what transpired the night before. I smile to myself and stifle a yawn as I sit up and throw my legs over the side of the bed. Slowly, and lacking much grace, I manage to walk to the balcony doors and pull them closed. I don't know when Vegeta had left that morning, but I wasn't surprised to find that he did. The man had worn me out, and I fell into an exhausted sleep not long after we had finished, leaving him to stay or go as he pleased. I walk back to my empty bed and fall into it, ready to give into sleep once more.


	9. Chapter 9

Windows to the Soul

A/n: I've been working on this chapter for the last three weeks in my spare time. I'm in a medical course for two months, so I'm a little on the busy side. I'll try to have the next one out in a week, but no promises. Now, on to answering questions and such.

Riaru Buruma - I actually questioned myself before I typed that, but I decided to go with it anyway. I never did watch Dragonball, so I just know bits and pieces from it.

Nikoru – Thank you very much, that means a lot to me.

A Serious Authoress – I was wondering if anyone was going to pick up on her name (Lait). I have it as that for two reasons. One is that it's pronounced 'lay', and I portray her (at least I hope I do) as a very slutty, and easy woman. Two is that she's supposed to be a smooth character, and when I think smooth, I think of milk. Now you have insight into how my brain works, scary, huh? Thank you for the tidbit by the way, it's a work in progress right now.

Bluehue – Glad you like my name. I originally wanted Eternal Dreamer, as I have that and a dream catcher tattooed on my leg, but it was taken, so I had to change it around a little, and finally got Clear Eyed Dreamer.

Thank you to everyone else who reviewed, I love them all.

Chapter 9

I tap my well manicured nail against the hard wood of my desk. I've been trying to get a hold of Lait all day, but have yet to get anything other than her voicemail. I'm really starting to wish that I had called her the day before like I had planned on. But, of course, I just had to get myself distracted with something, or someone, else. I angrily push the button on my phone to hang up, hoping to alleviate some of my frustration. I've been at the headquarters for the last two hours trying to get some work done and nervously waiting for the office staff to leave for the day. It was nearing six o'clock, and I was hoping they would all be gone by then. I can't really pull out an odd, long, tubular device and run around this floor of the office without getting some strange looks. I admit it would be fun to run around like a madwoman, the silver shaft shining in my hands as it beeps quietly, and have all the office staff stare at me like I've lost my mind. I grin to myself at this thought, I can just imagine all the rumors that little spectacle would cause. Maybe I'll give it a try when things are a little less urgent. It's already been a while since the robbers had gotten their hands on the notes about Saiyan technology. I can only hope that they have yet to have a chance to try to decipher all my ramblings, and half scribbled notes. I sigh and look out into the hallway from my place behind my desk. I've deliberately left the door open so that I can keep track of who has left and who is still here. Thankfully, most have already left.

I glance at my cell phone and pick it up again, once more punching in Lait's phone number. This time, much to my delight, she picks up on the third ring. "Lait," I say, "it's Bulma."

"Yes, I know dear, I have caller ID," she responds, her voice snottier than usual.

"I won't keep you long," I reply, hearing my own voice take on a snotty tone. "Were you in my house when I wasn't there last week?"

"Excuse me?" Lait replies.

"I was told you were seen around my house," I explain, keeping the tone in my voice.

"Well, I hate to inform you that you sources are wrong, darling," her voice has suddenly changed to being sickeningly sweet, "I haven't been to your place in ages. You never invite me around anymore." I can almost hear her pout on the other end.

"Are you sure you weren't by to pick something up, maybe?" I ask, desperately trying to remind Lait of why she would come by when I wasn't there. The last thing I want to find out today was that Vegeta hadn't told me the truth. But, then again, what reason would he have to lie about it?

"Bulma, I was not there," she tells me sternly, "and I don't appreciate the fact that you so obviously don't believe me."

"I do, I do," I quickly backpedal, "really Lait, I believe you. I have to go now though, I have some things here at the office that needs to be completed." I listen to her grunt in reply and I hang up the phone. I place my elbow on the desk and lean my chin on my open palm. Now what am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to believe? Lait is one of my closest friends, so I should trust her out of loyalty, and to be honest, Vegeta has only seen her once, and he easily could have mistaken her. But this now begs the question, who did he see around the compound?

I'll have to hunt him down later and question him on the attributes of the person. I slowly lick my lips as my mind wanders to how I can persuade him to give me the answers in a most enjoyable way. A body walking past the door brings me from my daydream, and I grin, realizing that person was the last to leave. I bounce up from my seat and grab the metal shaft from my desk and flip a switch. A series of lights flicker and it lets out one long beep, before the digital display near the end lights up. "We're in business," I murmur.

I slowly walk around my office, letting the machine pick up several different energy residues. After I complete my circle, I sit on the corner of my desk and regard the display. One set of residue stands out above the rest, which I peg as Vegeta's. It's too high to be human. There's five others, which I try to place, so as not to waste time following the trail of someone from the office. I guess that the two lowest are myself and my assistant. They're also the strongest, meaning they've been here recently, which the two of us have been. I know one of the others would be Smith, my head of security, but I don't know which one. I frown, I was hoping to have this narrowed done to less than three possibilities. I guess I'll have to check them all out.

--

I stand on a street corner looking up at the sign above my head, "Water Crescent", one of the swankier districts in town. I had gotten lucky on following the second residue I tried, and it had brought me here. The first had brought me to the security office, so I quickly dismissed it as Smith. I look at the line of houses in front of me, all large and superbly decorated. I had come the last fifteen minutes by foot, having capsulated my pre-release model of Capsule Corporation's latest addition to our convertible line. I have an urge to uncapsulated it just so that I would blend into the neighborhood better. I take a step forward, forcing back my uncertainty. I look at the shaft in my hands, which is pointing me further down the street. Just my luck that it couldn't have been the mansion on the corner, now I have to travel further into this neighborhood. I don't feel quite right here, I get the uneasy feeling that the people who own these mansions aren't good people. I chuckle nervously, knowing that thought was just silly. I get three mansions in when the digital display changes, marking my destination. I look up at the ornate styled mansion, hidden far back on the grounds and isolated from the rest of the world by a metal gate and high stone wall. I shiver and blink, unable to shake the feeling of dread coming from that building. I look around to make sure no one is watching me before I take out my notepad and quickly scribble down the address, adding a couple quick notes about what the building looks like. I quickly uncapsulate my car and jump in, eager to get out of there.

--

My plan when I stepped into the house was to go to my lab and look up information on who owned that mansion, maybe hack into some government files to find out as much as I can. Unfortunately, that plan was put on hold as soon as I glanced out a window to the back grounds and found a shirtless Saiyan doing some light training. I stopped in my tracks and watched as he flipped and punched an invisible enemy. A small smile played on my lips as I let my eyes roam over his form. He really was spectacularly built, with broad shoulders and a thin, compact waist. I notice my mother enter the room and I reluctantly tear my eyes away from the sweating male form in my back yard. I look at her and smile, "I'm sorry about missing dinner, I had some extra work to catch up on."

"Oh, that's alright, dear," she replies with a giggle, "did you want something now? I can make you a nice sandwich, or maybe a small chicken dish?"

I shake my head, "no, that's alright, I'll just grab something later. There is only an hour or so of sunlight left, and I'd really like to take advantage of it."

My mother glances out the window I was looking out before, and nods her head. She turns back to face me and giggles, "I understand completely, honey."

"Mom!" I exclaim, feeling my cheeks burn, "it has nothing to do with him!"

She winks at me and turns to walk out of the room, "alright, darling."

My jaw drops as I stare after her retreating form. She must have a sixth sense for infatuations. I shake my head to clear it before running off to my lab and grabbing my laptop. I don't think I've ever been so thankful for the piece of portable equipment before.

I make myself comfortable on the back deck before letting myself glance at Vegeta again. He's still there, still flipping around, and attacking invisible things. I watch his movements, all graceful, fluid, and strong, and am reminded of the night before. I subconsciously run my tongue over my lips. The previous night had satisfied me in a way that Yamcha had never been able to, and yet, left me wanting more.

I reluctantly pull my eyes away from his body and to the screen in front of me. The computer had loaded while I was admiring my houseguest, and was ready to be used. My eyes were glued to the screen for the next half hour, before I was finally able to make my way into the government databases. This was something that I had done many times before, and by now, was like child's play to me. It never ceases to amuse me that they don't upgrade their security system, but then again, not many people are as skilled as I am.

It doesn't take me long to track down the occupant of the house, and bring up his profile. His name is all too familiar to me. Reese Score is the son of one of my father's greatest scientific rivals, although I've never known the older Score to be as underhanded as to break in and steal from a competitor. I read through a bit of trivial information such as place of birth, age, and birth date, when I notice Vegeta has stepped onto the deck and is walking toward one of the other chairs at the table. I smile at him as he sits down and puts his feet up, not far from where my laptop is sitting.

"Excuse me," I say with a snotty tone, and push his feet off the table, "expensive piece of machinery here."

He smirks at me, and returns his feet to the table.

I narrow my eyes at him and mutter, "jerk." I should have known better than to assume that he'd be more pleasant towards me. "Why are you training outside, anyway? Did you break something again?"

He only shrugs and leans back in the chair more, seeming to relax slightly, "not for lack of trying."

"So, you admit that you try to break things, do you?" I ask, smirking slightly.

"It's hard not to try to beak something that's constructed so pitifully in the first place," he says, with an upward tilt of his head.

I growl before taking a deep breath to calm myself, "you are not pulling me into this argument again, buddy."

"Then you concede?" he asks, arrogance oozing from his every pore.

"The only thing I concede is that you are impossible!" I exclaim. "Can't you be nice for once?"

"You and I both know the answer to that," he replies, leveling his head out again, "or have you forgotten who I am?"

"Don't be foolish, Vegeta, you make it too hard to forget who you are and what you've done," I reply through gritted teeth, "you go out of your way to remind people, like you use it to push them away. It's not going to work on me though, so you can lose your 'evil' act."

He growls and takes his feet off the table, leaning towards me, "don't speak about things that you know nothing about, little girl."

I stand up, placing my palms on the table and leaning towards him until there's barely three inches between us, "you don't scare me, so you might as well stop trying," I seethe, "and don't call me 'little girl'."

"I'll call you anything I please," he returns, "or have you already forgotten that you're my whore?"

Anger clouds my judgment, and I raise a hand to strike him across the face. My hand feels like its just hit metal, but I'm too angry to truly notice or care. I know he let me do it, as he made no move to stop me. We stand like that for what seems like an eternity, staring angrily into each other's eyes. I make the first move, slamming my laptop shut, and stalking into the house with it, completely forgetting to read the rest of the information on Reese.

--

I spent an hour in my lab after my run-in with Vegeta, which was a huge mistake. I made a mess of the place, trashing anything that I didn't need or want. Violence was the only thing that kept me from passing from anger to sadness, but I gave up my tirade when I ran out of useless parts and papers. I plopped myself down in a chair and brought my legs up in front of me, resting my chin on my knees. I close my eyes and let the wave of sadness wash over me. I've never had someone I care about speak to me in such a way, and it hurt more than I would be willing to admit out loud. I think I care more for this man than I previously thought I did, and to be treated with such disrespect from him was a blow to me. In all his arrogance, and rudeness, he had never spoken such harsh words to me. I feel cheap, and used, like a whore, just like he had said. I'm not surprised when I feel a single wet drop drip from my eye. I reach up and wipe it away, determined not to appear weak. I know I need to confront him and at least get closure to this sham of a relationship, but first, I need to gather my strength, because I have a feeling that I'm going to need it.

--

Mouth set, eyes steady, face hard, I march through the house, intent on finding the Saiyan prince and ripping into him. He had messed with the wrong woman, and although I feel hurt on the inside, I look strong and confident on the outside. I will make him wish he had never treated me the way he had. I march into the living room to find him sitting on the sofa, feet up on the ottoman, with a novel in his hands. I grit my teeth and move further into the room, right into his line of sight.

He looks up over the novel and stares into my eyes. There's no malice there, no hatred or anger, there's just nothing. I feel my resolve weakening as I look into the abyss that is his eyes. Then he gives me a smirk, and my anger dissipates. I watch as he lowers his eyes back to the novel in front of him, and I frown, letting my thoughts take over. I understand now that he didn't mean what he said, but yet said it to push me away. I told him he couldn't scare me, so he tried to hurt me to distance me instead. I square my shoulders and march over to the sofa, if he was going to be a jerk, then I'd just have to prove that I'm not going anywhere, no matter what comes out of his mouth. I grab the novel out of his hands, and sit down on his lap before he can make any rude comments. He raises an eyebrow in curiosity, and I smile in response. "What, did you want to end the day on such a sour note?" I asked quietly, placing my hand gently on the back of his neck. I can't help but laugh at the look of complete distrust he gets on his face, "you don't trust me?" I said, pouting in a mocking way.

He narrows his eyes at me. "Never," he replies.

I shrug, and kiss his cheek before jumping off his lap and holding out his novel to him. "I guess I'll just have to see what I can do about that, won't I?" He takes the novel warily and I wink at him before walking off, making sure to sway my hips seductively in case he was watching my retreating form.

I sigh as I leave the room and direct myself towards my bedroom. He doesn't trust me, but I'm determined to change that. I have to make him see that he has no reason not to, I would never do anything to sabotage him. I want him to trust me, like I do him. But, then again, do I really trust him? Didn't I just decide earlier today that he didn't tell me the truth about Lait? I sigh and yawn, deciding that this can wait until tomorrow when I can quiz him, but for now, I just want to sink into my nice warm bed and have lusty dreams about my Saiyan Prince.


	10. Chapter 10

Windows to the Soul

A/n: You don't want excuses, I don't want to list everything bad that's happened, so just believe me when I say I've been working on this whenever I got the chance.

Also, I didn't get as many reviews for the last chapter, so, if you've missed reading it, make sure you go back and do that.

Now, for your reading pleasure (and since I took so long getting this out) I give you 7.5 pages of pure Bulma and Vegeta interaction. Enjoy.

Chapter 10

My lab is in complete shambles. There's paper everywhere, shards of metal strewn across the room, and tools sticking out of places in the wall. I carefully make my way through the room, wishing I had opted for shoes more sturdy then the soft blue slippers I currently have on my feet. What was I going to do with this mess? I could get one of the cleaning bots to reorganize everything, but then I wouldn't know where they put my stuff. I certainly didn't want to organize this entire mess myself. I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back in time to the night before and keep myself from tearing this place apart, or better yet, back even further to keep the argument with Vegeta from happening. I sigh, knowing that even if I could do that, there would just be more arguments down the road.

Why does that man insist on being so damn difficult, I ask myself as I nudge some metal out of my path with the toe of my slipper. He's so stubborn, and spoiled, and short tempered, and self centered, and just like me, and I hate it. I'm lucky I can get along with me most days, how am I possibly expected to get along with a male version of my personality? The answer to that question is fairly easy, I don't, not most of the time. I just can't get him out of my mind though. Something about him just pulls me to him, and I can't help but give into it. Of course there's the obvious physical attraction, but there's more to it, something about his demeanor and the things he doesn't say.

I tiptoe through a mess of metal to get to my desk. It isn't until I'm seated that I realize that there's a red splotch on the tip of my right slipper. Confused, I take it off, surprised to see my big toe covered in the dark red liquid. My heart stops for a second, and my breath hitches. No matter how often I see it, I still hate the sight of blood. I clear my mind of panicked thoughts and look at the slipper in my hand, seeing a shiny piece of metal sticking through the bottom of it. How smart of me to walk through that mess. I take a deep breath and pull the piece of metal out of the slipper before sliding my foot back into it. I get to my feet, gingerly placing weight on my right foot. The closest bathroom would be the one off the downstairs hallway. I grimace as I make my way back towards the door, careful to avoid the same metal mess that got me into this problem in the first place.

At least I can be grateful for the fact that my slipper is soaking up most of the blood and I'm not leaving a nice long trail behind me. I grit my teeth and ignore the pain as I finally make it to the bathroom. Leaning on the counter, I stand on my one leg, taking the weight off my right one. I wet a cloth, and grab the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet before leaving the room and hobbling through the hallway and into the kitchen. The tile in here will be easier to clean then carpet, and it's less cramped then the bathroom. I sit at the table, and remove my slipper, letting it drop to the floor beside me. I take the wet cloth and gently start wiping away some of the blood until I see the wound. I take a clean cloth and wrap it around my toe to apply pressure to the wound. It's at this time that I hear the back door open and the Saiyan prince walk in. I glance at the clock on the wall, noticing it to be around nine in the morning, the time that my mother is usually awake to feed the hungry alien. Just my luck.

He walks in dripping sweat and has the nerve to look at me like I disgust him, "you better not have bled over any food," he mumbles as he makes a beeline for the food pantry behind me.

"Jerk," I mumble with a growl. "I'm bleeding all over the place and that's all you can say?" I may have exaggerated a little. I turn my head in time to see him shrug his shoulders behind me. I bite my tongue and turn my head back forwards.

Not even ten seconds later he walks into my peripheral vision. "Where's your mother?" he asks gruffly, "I'm hungry."

I shoot him a dirty look, "she's out with some of her friends, guess you'll have to starve, since you know, I'd just bleed all over your food."

"Annoying woman," he mutters and disappears from my sight, only to return on the other side, "what did you do to yourself, anyway?"

"I didn't do anything. I was merely defending the contents of my lab against a superhuman being. I was fighting him off, and besting him strategy-wise using that wonderful brain of mine, when he got frustrated and stabbed my foot with a metal shard and ran off like the coward he was," I tell him.

He looks at me skeptically, "now the truth."

"Well, the lab part and the metal shard part are true," I say, "you didn't have to just assume that I did this, you know." I notice his eyes move to where I'm holding the cloth, and I look down, seeing the blood start to show through it. I look back at him in time to catch a weird look in his eyes, but it's gone all too fast when he locks eye contact with me again.

"You stepped on a metal shard?" he asks, chuckling slightly. "With how much you like to boast about your 'superior' intellect, I'm surprised you were stupid enough to do something like that."

"Oh, shove it, you royal pain in my ass," I reply, pressing the cloth harder onto the wound. I think it's almost done bleeding, then I should be able to get a closer look at it. I doubt it's anything too severe, I've just always managed to make a nice show of blood whenever I cut myself.

Vegeta pulls out one of the chairs at the table and sits down, placing his chin on his palm, and staring at me with a bored expression.

"What?" I snap, a little too harshly.

"I'm hungry," he replies, his voice void of any emotion.

"You're hungry?" I repeat. "You barge in here, don't even ask me if I'm alright, insult me, and now you're complaining about being hungry?"

He shrugs, but doesn't say anything in response.

I glare at him. "You are something, Vegeta, you really are," I say, a hint of disgust in my tone.

He rolls his eyes and gets to his feet. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he walks to the back wall, takes the cordless phone off the charger, and walks back over to me to stand behind me. I turn my head back around to face forward. He puts the phone on the table in front of me, and leans down so that his mouth is behind my ear. I shiver as his warm breath rolls over my ear and down my neck. "If you are so pathetic that you'll let a minor flesh wound overcome you, then call out for food."

I wait a beat to see if he was going to continue speaking or move away, he did neither. I turn my head slightly so that I could just see him. He's staring at me intently, with no emotion on his features. I can feel my cheeks start to burn, so I turn back around and grab the phone he placed in front of me. Those damn eyes of his and the way he stares sometimes, it's so unnerving. I hit a series of numbers that I know off by heart, and quickly place an order for several large pizzas. I doubted the Prince would complain about pizza for breakfast, just as long as he got fed. I press the button to end the call and place the receiver back on the table.

I unwrap my toe carefully, using it as an excuse not to look at the man pacing around my kitchen. I use the wet cloth again to wipe off the rest of the blood, and I survey the damage. Vegeta was right, of course, it's only a minor flesh wound, but damn, it hurts. I kick off my other slipper, which I just now realized I was still wearing, and place my feet up on the chair across from me. I watch Vegeta pace for a few moments, before I let out a sigh, which, oddly enough, gets his attention.

Vegeta stops pacing and looks at me, "what's wrong now?" he asks, with a carefully placed tone of annoyance.

"Nothing…" I reply, staring at him. Some part of me hopes that my staring at him causes the same reaction his staring did to me. It doesn't, of course, and he opens his mouth to say something, but he's cut off by the shrill ring of the phone in front of me. I mutter an expletive and pick up the receiver, punching the button just a little harder then I needed to. "What?" I answer, not impressed with being interrupted. I only have so many opportunities to steal Vegeta away from his training, and I do not feel like spending one of them on the phone with some telemarketer, or press reporter.

"Bulma Briefs?" The voice on the other end asks. The voice is male, and smooth.

"Yes," I snarl, before I let out a sigh as I glance at Vegeta, who's leaning against the counter staring at me again. I stare back at him this time, ignoring the flush of red I feel making its way to my cheeks. He smirks after a moment, which pulls a smile from me. He is absolutely gorgeous when he smirks in amusement. Who am I kidding? He's absolutely gorgeous even when he smirks as he's about to blast someone into oblivion. I involuntarily lick my lips, resulting from my focus on his mouth. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head slightly, but he smirk doesn't disappear. I know he loves me worshipping him.

"Hello? Hello?" the voice on the other end of the phone practically yells, pulling me out of my daze.

"What? Oh…uh…sorry, I'm not interested," I reply, realizing I had completely tuned out everything the man had said.

"'Not interested'?" He repeats, with a tone near to that of disbelief. "What are you talking about? Were you even listening to me? I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, not some airhead like your mother."

"What?" I practically scream, "don't talk about my mother that way!" My mother is an airhead, but that doesn't give anyone the right to call her on it. Well, except me. Vegeta winces at my high pitched tone, and I mouth 'sorry' to him. "What is it that you want?" I ask, icily.

"I don't like having to repeat myself, Bulma, so you better be listening this time around," the man stated, obviously annoyed with me. "I want you to stop playing 'detective' and stop snooping around. If you don't listen to me, I can't be held responsible for what happens to you."

"Is that a threat?" I ask, standing up from the table, and placing my free palm down on it. I ignore the urge to wince at the pain in my foot. I glance back at Vegeta, having turned my attention from him at the words of the man on the phone. His eyes have narrowed slightly, but other than that, his face is once more emotionless.

"It's just a friendly suggestion, Bulma," the man said with a slight chuckle, "make of it what you will."

My line goes dead and I punch the button to end the call. "What a load of bullshit!" I exclaim. "Who the hell does he think he is threatening me? What a jerk!" I leave the table and start to pace back and forth in the kitchen, completely oblivious now to the pain in my foot. "Ass! He doesn't know who he's dealing with! Good luck getting at me to make good on your threats, you asshole!"

Vegeta steps in front of me, effectively ending my pacing. "Who is threatening you?"

"Oh, some head of a rival corporation, by the name of Reese Score. He thinks he can bully me into stopping my investigation into the break-in and the theft and…." I trail off as he narrows his eyes at me.

"What have you been getting into?" Vegeta asked. I could tell he was trying to keep his tone leveled.

"I didn't tell you, did I?" I chuckle nervously. "I kinda found out who was behind the break-in, and sorta went to their home. Apparently, they found out." I motioned to the now dead phone. I see his eyes spark in anger, or, could that possibly be worry? I pout at him, and bat my eyelashes, "I'm sorry," I say quietly. "but I had to. They have something valuable of mine and-"

"So, you just go running off unprotected?" Vegeta interrupts me, his voice rough and clearly not impressed with me. He snarls when I try to open my mouth to speak, which effectively makes me clamp my mouth shut again. "You are not invincible, Bulma, and those idiot friends of your aren't going to always be around to save you when you get into trouble."

Despite the lecture, I smile. "You just called me by name," I state quietly, "instead of woman. It's a landmark moment."

He rolls his eyes, "figures that would be what you would focus on. Fine, go get killed, see if I care."

"But you do care if I get killed," I say with a mischievous smile, and take a step closer to him. "Or else you wouldn't have lectured me."

He grunts, "don't read too much into it."

"You can't take it back now," I tease, "just face it, you care if I die. Admit it." The doorbell rings signaling the delivery of the pizza, just in time to save him from me. I smile at him and turn to go to the door. "Don't think I'm done with you yet."

I step out onto the deck after supper that night. It was late, and the sun had already set. I take a deep breath of fresh air, immediately noticing the other person present. I walk over to our patio table, and lean my backside against it, just to the right of where Vegeta is sitting in a chair. "Do you ever get the feeling that we meet on this deck way too often?" I ask, remembering the first time we were out here together. I had kissed his cheek and ran away, and he had accused me of playing games with him. I smile warmly at the memory that was maybe a month old.

He shrugged and closed his eyes.

"You don't seem to be training quite so much lately," I mentioned.

"There's no sense," he replied, still with closed eyes. "I can't achieve what I want like that."

I nod, even though he can't see it. "How will you achieve it?"

"I don't know yet. I have a couple theories, but none I want to share," he says quietly.

"When you want to…" I trailed off as he nodded, already knowing what I was going to say, that I'd want to know.

I let the silence last for a few minutes. "Vegeta," I say quietly, "I want to go confront Reese about all this stuff tomorrow. Will you come with me, and keep me safe?" He only nods, not saying a word. "Thank you," I murmur. "One more question though. You said the person snooping around was my friend, did you mean Lait? I only ask because she swears she wasn't over here."

"Because all guilty people admit their guilt," he replied sarcastically.

"I know, I had thought of that. But, I was kind of hoping that you were mistaken," I said, a little sadly, "or that Lait would own up to it and that she was just over here for some trivial reason. Now, I know someone is lying to me, because you both have different stories."

"Who do you believe?" Vegeta asked, not missing a beat. I studied his face for a moment, noticing the lines between his eyes.

I took a deep breath, "I don't have any reason to mistrust you, Vegeta." My smile returned as his face relaxed again. I know he was mentally preparing himself for an argument.

"You're a peculiar woman," he stated, opening his eyes to look at me.

I shrug, "maybe so, but I'd rather be peculiar then what's considered normal. Besides, if I was a normal human, you'd despise me just like you do all the rest."

"You're awfully sure that I don't despise you now," he states.

"Of course I am," I agree, "who couldn't not despise someone as beautiful, talented, and smart as myself?" I grinned at him.

"Someone's full of themselves," he says with a smirk.

"Well, maybe if someone," I put a strong emphasis on 'someone', "would compliment me, I wouldn't have to toot my own horn."

He rolled his eyes, "fine," he replies, and stands up. He places a hand on my hip and gently nudges me over so I'm leaning on the table directly in front of him, with a couple inches of space separating us. "You are passably tolerable in looks and talent, but, I have yet to see any example of intelligence. Good enough?"

I narrow my eyes at him, and playfully smack his shoulder. "You jerk. I should have known better than to expect anything nice to come out of that foul mouth of yours."

"You can't hold me accountable for your mistakes, woman," he shrugged, keeping his hand on my hip.

"'Woman'?" I repeated. "What happened to 'Bulma'?"

"A slip of the tongue," he explains, with a deepening smirk.

"Oh, so you intentionally not call me by name then, huh?" I say as I slowly wind my arms around his neck.

"You can't prove anything," he replies, nudging me back so that I'm perched on the edge of the table.

"Hm, I beg to differ." I lean forward, greedily pressing my open lips to his. I wrap my legs around his waist, resting them on his hips, and urging him tighter against my body. He grips my hip tighter with the hand that had lain there, and rests the other behind my neck. He guides my head to the side so he can deepen the kiss. I'm reveling in the feel of his body when a gasp sounds from the other side of the deck, followed by an airy giggle.

I regretfully part mouths with Vegeta, both turning our heads in the direction of the intruding noise. I'm surprised when he doesn't step away from me, and instead moves his hands to my lower back. Following his lead, I keep my arms around his neck, but I unlock my legs from around his waist, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the image that must create for my mother.

"Mom," I say in a tone meant to urge her to speak quickly or leave.

She giggles again and clasps her hands in front of her waist, "my my, isn't this something? Who would've thought? You two look so cute together. This is definitely a step up for you, Bulma."

I glare at her, and I'm fairly certain Vegeta is as well, although I can't see his face. "Did you want something?" I ask, wishing that my voice didn't come out sounding so icy.

"Oh no, dear, I just wanted some fresh air, but I'll leave you two alone," she chirped happily as she turned and went back into the building.

I roll my eyes as I return my focus to the man in front of me, "and you were insulting my intelligence?"

He shrugs, and leans forward to nip at my bottom lip, before letting go of me and taking a step back, "coming inside?" he asked with an alluring glint in his eye.

I smirk back and allow him to lead me into the house.

--

I squeeze my eyes closed and roll over, smacking into something hard and warm, which grunted at the contact. This brings me out of sleep completely as I open my eyes to the sculpted form of my houseguest sleeping on his back. His eyes are closed, and he has the arm nearest me pillowed under his head, with his other arm resting across his bare chest. I sigh happily and place my head on his chest, taking advantage of his sleeping state, knowing that he wouldn't let me cuddle up to him to sleep if he were awake. I close my eyes again, quickly falling back to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 11

I let the hot water wash over my face, ridding me of the dirt and sweat from the day before. It trickles down my skin and beads at my feet, getting caught up with the rest of the water and making its trek towards the drain. I breathe out a sigh and reach down to turn the water off. I slip out of the shower and grab my towel. Just as I had expected, Vegeta was gone when I woke up this morning. He's lucky I'm a heavy sleeper most times or he would have woken me when he moved me and got up, and I've been told I'm not a pleasant person early morning.

With my skin dry and a towel wrapped around my body, I return to my bedroom to dry my wet hair and get dressed. I pull on faded black jeans and a light purple tank top before making my way downstairs to the kitchen. Glancing at a clock, I notice it's just past ten o'clock, an hour too later to catch Vegeta for breakfast.

Mom is loading up the dishwasher when I walk in. I try to make as little sound as possible as I grab a mug of coffee and a couple slices of bread, not looking forward to the conversation about the previous night. Luck is not with me as she turns around and smiles at me with a dopey grin. I sigh and drop the bread in the toaster. "Good morning," I say as I turn my back to her, hoping she'll start chirping away about the morning and not about last night.

"And a good morning to you, Bulma honey," she replies, as she takes a seat at the table where her own mug of coffee sits. "Isn't it a gorgeous day? The sun is bright, but there's this nice little wind that keeps coming up. Keeps it cool, you know?" She nods to herself. "It's perfect weather for some gardening outdoors. I think I'll do some weeding today, clean up those darling little flower patches a little. Maybe I can drag your father out of that laboratory he's got himself locked up in. He needs to do some relaxing gardening. He's been in there all morning, you know, just doing whatever it is you science types do in there." She pauses for a sip of her coffee. "So, how was your morning, Bulma?"

I butter my toast and take a seat at the table opposite my mother. "Fine," I say.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" She asks.

I shake my head, and shove a bite of toast in my mouth.

She takes another sip of her coffee as I stare at her, waiting for something about the previous night to come out of her mouth. She giggles, "darling, it's not polite to stare. Well, except when you're appreciating a gorgeous man, but that's not really staring, as I said, it's just 'appreciating'." She looks at me and frowns slightly, "talking about gorgeous men, honey, you aren't taking that wonderful man for granted, are you?"

"Huh?" I sputter, "taking him for granted?" I laugh, "no Mom, I am not taking his insults and needless hostility for granted."

"You just be careful, alright? I don't want you hurting that man. He's a good fellow," she says as she collects her mug and stands from the table.

My mouth drops open, "you know, most parents would worry about the self-stated evil man hurting their daughter, not the other way around!" I yell at her retreating form. I shake my head, once again so happy that I take after my father.

--

"Five more minutes…" Vegeta grumbles, trailing off.

I roll my eyes, "well, I couldn't just make an appointment you know. 'Oh, hi, this is the woman you're threatening, what time is good for you so that I can stop by and have a chat with you about this whole silly threatening my life thing?'," I keep my voice hushed so Reese's assistant couldn't hear me. Vegeta and I had been waiting outside Reese's office for close to a half hour, and he was starting to get irritated, which in turn, was irritating me. We make such a good couple, feeding off each other's negative emotions like that.

He narrows his eyes at me, "I could be training right now."

"Oh, I know, believe me, I know. You've only stated it several hundred times!" I reply, putting as much attitude as I could into a whisper. He first stated it when I dragged him away from his training to take a shower and put on normal human clothing.

"I will never understand why you humans feel a need to exaggerate. Do you not realize how idiotic it makes you sound? I should hope you'd be able to properly count by now," he states.

"I can count," I reply snottily, "now, behave yourself."

He let out a growl, and I roll my eyes again.

Only a couple more minutes pass before the phone on the assistants' desk rings and she tells us we can go in. Confident, I march through the office door with Vegeta two steps behind me. I ignore the lavish carpeting and wall decorations, and head straight for the desk. "Score, you have some explaining to do!" I state as I slam my palms on his desk.

The man on the other side of the desk smiles a perfectly white, straight smile. Malice shines in his dark brown eyes, which stay trained on my face. His hair is non-existent, either through natural means or purposefully, I'm not sure. "Ms. Briefs, how nice to see you again," his voice is smooth. "It must be over 15 years since we last saw one another. You've blossomed into such a beautiful young woman," I think I hear Vegeta make a small possessive noise from behind me, "I can't understand why you've yet to snag a husband. I, myself, am married, and have been for several years."

"Cut the crap," I interject, "do you really think I care about your personal life? This isn't a personal call, this isn't even business."

"Bulma, I can call you 'Bulma', can't I? I think we should be on a first name basis, considering that you are going to be coming to work for me," he says, as his smile turns sinister.

"Excuse me? I am not going to work for you! Where the hell do you get off making an assumption like that?" I'm starting to get a little angry.

"You misunderstand me, it's not an assumption, it's an order," Reese replies with a laugh and stands from his seat. He towers over me at probably well over six feet, and he looks solidly built. I'm suddenly very glad I brought the Saiyan prince with me.

I shrug, "I've never been one for taking orders, Reese. I want the plans you stole from me back, all copies destroyed, and no more threatening phone calls, got it?"

He has the audacity to laugh in my face. "You are very funny, Bulma. I hardly think you're in any position to be bargaining."

I open my mouth to retort when I see Vegeta move up beside me.

"You are a very irritating little man," Vegeta says, a threat clearly portrayed through his tone.

Reese looks to the man at my side, scrutinizing him, before turning back to me. "You were smart to bring a bodyguard, but you should have found someone a little taller, and a little stronger."

"Insults are a sign of a weak mind," Vegeta replies, "I suppose that explains why you have to steal your ideas from those who aren't as lacking in intelligence."

I chuckle, as hatred passes over Reese's face. I have a feeling he's not used to being talked back to.

"Bulma," Reese growls, turning his attention back to me, "if you wish to continue this conversation, I insist you get rid of him this instant."

I shake my head, "sorry, Reese, he stays. This is on my terms, not yours."

"You are making a fatal mistake by angering me," Reese tells me, his voice starting to waver. "I have warned you, and I have played nice, but this is your last chance. You will agree to work for me, or I will force you to."

"Reese," I sigh, "this is your last chance, bite me!"

He let out something akin to a growl and rounded his desk. "You stupid woman! Don't you see? Your notes weren't complete. You must finish this for me."

Vegeta pulls me back slightly so that he's closer to Reese then I am.

I laugh out loud, understanding finally why he wants me to work for him. He can't figure out how to hook up Saiyan technology any better than I could. I take a hold of Vegeta's arm and point to the door. "We can go now." My worries have vanished. There is one person who can effectively finish his project for him, and I doubt Vegeta would be willing to help him out.

Vegeta gives me a look of suspicion.

I shake my head and smile at him, "I'll let you know later. And as for you," I turn my attention to Reese, my voice going cold, "I hope you understand that you will never find someone who can finish whatever monstrosity you're creating."

"You lie…" he responds, growling slightly, "you lie…"

--

I sit on the deck, my laptop in front of me. The sun has almost set, and the shine from the laptop screen is giving off the most illumination. It's weird that it's so dark out here. The outside light is turned on, but it barely seems to be casting any light at all. All that I can see is bathed in the unnerving bluish color that comes from my screen. I look at the windows in the house, and the light inside is bright, but it doesn't do anything to pierce the darkness out here. I strain my eyes to see as far as the gravity chamber. It's turned off, which is odd. I thought Vegeta had gone straight to train after we had returned from Score Incorporated, but I guess he had decided to take off elsewhere. Strange.

I feel a shiver start down my spine. Something about this whole thing just doesn't seem right. I call out Vegeta's name, but get no answer. I hurriedly pack up my laptop, immediately regretting turning it off as my only source of light is no more. I'm surrounded by darkness, I can't see a thing. I can feel the panic start to build inside of me. I look behind me to the house, but I can no longer see the windows, there's nothing there. I call out the Saiyan's name once more, but this time I get maniacal laughter as a reply. I can't place the voice, and am not given the time to as I feel strong hands clamp onto my arms on either side, effectively immobilizing me.

I scream for help, and try to fling my captors off, but it's no use. No one is coming to help me, and they're too strong for me to fight off. I regretfully let out a sob as a flicker of light appears in front of my face and I find myself staring into the sinister eyes of Reese Score. I try to spit in his face, but find my mouth too dry. He only laughs at me again.

"What a pretty little woman you are," he says, his voice sing-song. "Is that where your confidence comes from? Tell me, Bulma, would you be so confident if you were hideous? If you were scarred and disfigured?" I notice the faint light glint off something silver in his hand and I let out another scream just as he brings the blade up to rest against my cheek.

"You will agree to help me, Bulma," he continues, "if you value your looks. You will lose everything if you don't help me. You think any employees would take you seriously? Do you think that man you were with today would have anything to do with you if you weren't attractive? Do you think you could walk down the street without someone pointing and laughing?"

I close my eyes as I feel the cold of the blade on my cheek. I bite back a sob, trying to ignore the tears that threaten to fall.

"Bulma?" He says, "this is your last chance."

I let out a scream just as the blade pierces into the flesh of my cheek.

I find I can move my arms again and flail them, letting out another scream, keeping my eyes squeezed shut. Slowly, I open them to scope out my surroundings. It's dark, but there's moonlight coming in from the open curtains framing my balcony doors. I'm in my bedroom sitting up in my bed. It was dream, all a dream. I place my hand on my heart, feeling it pound against my ribs. I close my eyes and try to calm my breathing.

Slowly and carefully, I slide out of my bed. I slip my robe on over my bare shoulders and pad barefooted over to my balcony doors. I need some fresh air. I reach down to flick the lock up, when I feel nothing there. I squint, trying to make out the door handle, trying to fight back panic. The door is unlocked already. Quickly, I turn on my heel and walk briskly towards my bedroom door, all the while seeing things in the shadows of my room. I imagine someone jumping out at me just as I make it to my door, covering my mouth and forcing me to the ground. I swallow a lump in my throat, fighting the urge to run through my door and through the hallways of the house.

I walk as quickly as I can out my door and down the hallway until I make it to another bedroom door. Not bothering to knock, I throw the door open, careful to make sure it closes behind me. Immediately I hear movement from the center of the room. I woke him up. Forgetting to act composed I bound the couple steps and throw myself onto the bed, burying my head in hard muscle. I feel him stiffen before putting an arm around my waist. He shifts into a sitting position, keeping me in his lap, and waits until my breathing calms before pulling my upper body away from him. He stares into my eyes, waiting for me to talk, not wanting to be forced to ask me what's wrong, not wanting to be forced to act like he cared.

I close my eyes for a few moments to make sure I'm composed and that the tears that have been threatening to fall have evaporated. "Nightmare," I say, followed by a nervous chuckle. In the faint light of his room I make out his features and the one eyebrow lifted in curiosity.

"You scream and come flying in here because of a nightmare?" he asks, sounding a bit irritated.

"You heard me scream?" I reply and move away from him to sit on the bed beside him. I smack his arm and growl. "Some protection you are," I say, my voice getting stronger with anger.

"When did I agree to be your protection?" He asks me as he lies down on his back again.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just assumed when you lectured me about being careless," I said, voice dripping with venom. "I guess I'll just go back to my own room then, since you don't care about my safety." I made a move to get off the bed.

"Good, maybe you'll learn not to fear monsters in your head," he replies, moving his arm up to cover his eyes.

"Asshole," I mutter and get off his bed, rounding it and making my way to the door. I reach out my hand to turn the knob when a feeling of fear and dread passes over me again. I swallow a lump that had formed in my throat and turn around. I pause for a moment, considering my options. I sigh and retrace my steps back. Slowly I slip under the blankets on his bed and place my head on his chest. I feel him move the arm covering his eyes, and I know he's giving me a confused look.

"Go to sleep," I say, harshly. He shifts slightly and falls motionless again. I close my eyes and listen to the steady beat of his heart below my head, which would come to be my constant companion in the endless, sleepless hours that followed.

--

I was half asleep when I felt Vegeta move under my head. I groaned and flung my arm over his waist, trying to hold him in place. It, of course, didn't work, and he moved my arm off of him. With a half-hearted growl, I yawned and rubbed my eyes. "Jerk," I mumble, opening my eyes to gaze at the man sitting up beside me, watching me with empty, dark eyes. "I just got to sleep."

"So? Go back to sleep," he replies, as he stretched and got off the bed.

I smile sleepily as I watch his naked form get dressed. "I would, but Reese haunts my sleeping mind."

"Does that mean you'll be waking me up in the middle of the night frequently from now on?" Vegeta asks, sounding only half interested.

"I won't have to if you'll sleep with me in the first place," I reply, rolling onto my stomach and propping my chin in my hands.

Vegeta snorts and turns to face me. "You kick in your sleep."

"I do not!" I reply, eyes widening. "And even if I do, maybe it's just pent up anger against your royal ass."

"Excuses," he replies with a smirk. "Go to sleep, I'll deal with your little issue."

I yawn and put my head back down on the pillow, "alright. Just this once, I'll do as you say." I close my eyes and relax my body, letting myself doze lightly. It isn't until I wake up some hours later that I recall Vegeta's words, _"I'll deal with your little issue"_, and an uneasy feeling goes through me.

--

A/n: Hey everyone. I'm not going to lie to you, I've had everything except the last few hundred words written for a few weeks. Things have been hectic though, so I just got around to finishing it now. I'm on painkillers and antibiotics, so I'm hoping the last part after she wakes Vegeta up made sense to more than just me. xD

Remember to show me some review love.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. I was overwhelmed by the amount of support I received after chapter 11. I loved seeing the mix of old and new readers. I must say thank you to you all for your compliments, most of which centered around my keeping them in character, which is very important to me.

A question for you all, because I value your opinions. I've been thinking about how long within the DBZ universe this story should go, and I have yet to come to a decision. Of course, there's still a good 5 or so chapters yet within this storyline, but when that finishes, would you like me to continue to write until the Buu saga, or end it after the three years? Also, I could end this story and write a sequel, which is also an option. What do you guys think?

Next piece of business, I am working on a rewrite of Obstacles. I'm not sure if anyone reading this story had also read what I have posted of the original Obstacles, but, a new and better one is on the way.

Finally:

To ASA – I'm semi-alright. Physically still hurting, but mentally, I just had a lot of stress lifted from me. I've read half of the last chapter I was on of your story so far, I promise I will finish it. Things should be getting less hectic and stressed here soon.

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 12

I pace back and forth in the middle of my living room, not entirely sure what I should do. If Vegeta had left earlier to do something to Reese, he was back now. I was waiting for one of two things to happen, either the news was going to come on the television, or Vegeta was going to come inside, either way, I was determined to find out what he had done. I don't know why I let Vegeta in on what was going on in the first place. I should have known better. He had killed the entire population of planets, I should have known that he wouldn't hesitate to kill one human man. I can feel a headache start to build behind my eyes. I don't want to feel responsible for the death of anyone, even a slimy asshole like Reese. Then another thought crosses my mind, Reese is married. What about his poor wife? She'll never know who killed him, she'll never have closure, she'll drink herself mad, and get institutionalized where she'll live out the rest of her life, carving the words 'why' and 'who' into the walls…

I flop down on the sofa and close my eyes, trying to think with the rational part of my brain again. I have no doubt that Reese's office has security cameras, which means they'll catch Vegeta in the act. Reese's assistant will recognize Vegeta and connect him to me, with video footage from the day before of us together to back up her claims. I'll be arrested, charged with first degree murder, and spend the rest of my days in a jail cell. Maybe I'll get released early on good behavior. It's not like I have a criminal record either, maybe the judge will go easy on me. I can always flee the country, it's not like I don't have enough money to start a new life. I have lots of options.

I hear the intro music for the local news and open my eyes. I find the television remote and increase the volume, just as the intro ends and the camera focuses in on a 'pretty boy' newscaster. He throws us a bright smile and welcomes us for tonight. His face goes serious as he announces the top story of the night, the violent attack on businessman Reese Score. I groan and continue to watch as the newscaster goes on in his fake serious voice.

"Reese Score, the chairman of Score Incorporated, was found brutally assaulted behind upscale restaurant 'La Tour' at approximately noon today. He's being treated at West City General Hospital, and as of the time of this report, has yet to wake up. He's been diagnosed with intensive head injuries, and multiple fractures. Police are reluctant to comment on the case and whether or not they have a suspect. No one has yet to be brought into custody in connection with the assault. In other news, Candy Farms welcomes its newest addition to its award winning stable of purebred horses-"

I flick the television off with a shake of my head. That newscaster always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, he switches so easily from somber to cheerful that you're reluctant to trust anything that comes out of his mouth. He gave me the info I wanted to know though. Vegeta didn't kill Reese, just put him out of commission for a while. For some reason, that new knowledge made me smile, and I couldn't help the warm feeling that came over me. It was almost like I… My mouth gaped open, I was not going to finish that thought. I have enough trouble in my life without having to worry about unwanted and unreturned foolish feelings. I am not going to think about this, I refuse to. I shake my head to clear it before standing up to leave. I turn towards the door and let out a gasp at the man standing there. Seeing him was the last thing I had expected. I scowled, "what are you doing here?"

"Were you waiting for that report, or just watching the news, Bulma?" my guest replies, his voice bitter.

"You didn't answer my question," I remind him, "Yamcha."

Yamcha rolls his eyes, "you have to be difficult don't you? I was here to warn you about your houseguest, but it seemed my trip was in vain."

I place my hands on my hips and narrow my eyes, "what are you talking about?" I motion towards the shut off television, "are you referring to what happened to Score? How did you even know about that before now?"

"I was dining in the restaurant and felt the influx of ki," Yamcha explains, "a ki I was very familiar with." He takes a few steps towards me, "Bulma, were you a part of this?"

"What? No!" I exclaim. "How could you even think such a thing? God, Yamcha, do you know nothing about me?"

"I used to," he replies, "but a lot of stuff about you has changed since then."

"Yeah, like the man in my bed," I reply angrily, before smacking a hand over my mouth. Wrong thing to say.

Yamcha shakes his head, "you're unbelievable, I thought you'd get this out of your system, but, instead you're sleeping with him? What is wrong with you? You just watched a report on what that maniac did to an innocent man, and you didn't even bat an eyelash."

"Yeah, well, my business is my own and it's no longer any of your concern," I tell him coldly. "What did you think was going to happen? That you'd race over here and confess Vegeta's sins to me, and after I would swoon in dismay and jump into your arms as my big savior?"

"You are incredibly ungrateful, you know that?" Yamcha responds, "Out of worry for your safety, I come over here and I get nothing but the cold shoulder."

"If you're not happy here, then leave. Nothing is stopping you," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. My cell phone rings at just the right moment and I pick it up without another glance at Yamcha. I turn my back to him and speak into the phone, "Bulma Briefs speaking." I hear a growl and footsteps behind me as Yamcha leaves.

"Bulma, darling, how have you been?" The pompous voice of Lait meets my ear.

"I've been wonderful," I lie. "How has your star spangled life been?"

She laughs airily, "it's been one amazing experience after another, a whirlwind of men, booze, and occasionally an hour or so of work."

I roll my eyes, "so, what do I owe this call?"

"I want to kidnap you tonight," Lait states, "we'll go out, have some drinks, pick up a couple guys." She laughes again.

"Sounds good," I say. I do need a night to relax, and maybe going out with the girls is just what I need. "Is Taya coming?"

"Taya's busy," Lait says, almost a little too quickly. She pauses for a moment like she realizes this before laughing again.

I hesitate for a moment. "Alright," I say.

--

I run a brush through my hair again, trying to work out all the kinks. I'm still feeling some of the repercussions of getting a perm in my hair. I think I should get it cut off to above my shoulders soon, this long hair thing is more problem then it's worth. I grab an elastic and tie it back, giving up on my quest to straighten it. A quick check in the mirror in front of me tells me that my make-up is still perfect. I walk out of my bathroom to my adjacent bedroom, making a beeline for my walk in closet. "What are you doing here?" I ask during my journey through my bedroom.

"Currently marveling over your inane ministrations," Vegeta replies from his leaning point beside my balcony doors.

"Don't knock what you don't get, Vegeta," I say from inside my closet as I thumb through my 'night out' dresses, "and speaking of 'knocking', ever hear of it?"

He makes a scoffing sound and I roll my eyes. Whatever was I thinking, the Prince needn't knock. I hear footsteps and it isn't long before he's leaning in the doorway of my closet, his arms crossed over his chest.

I sigh as I turn to him, "I know you want something, what is it?" It isn't often that he seeks me out.

He uncrosses his arms to show a knife in his right hand, which he holds up. A small shiver goes down my spine at the sight of him with a weapon. He motions for me to come towards him, which I do slowly. When I'm within arms reach, he flips the knife around so he's holding the blade with the handle pointed towards me.

"Take it," he says, "you're going to need it."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Don't question me, just take it, and keep it in an accessible spot," he urges, faintly hiding his annoyance at being questioned.

I reach out, taking a hold of the handle of the small blade. He holds onto it for a moment, staring into my eyes, before letting go. I glance at the knife in my hands before looking at him again, still not understanding why I need to carry it.

He smirks, and turns away from me to walk out of my bedroom. I watch him go with a small smile before looking back at the knife he gave me. I hold it up in front of my body, before placing it down on a small table. First, I need to get dressed, then I'll go raid my fathers' lab for anything I can use to secure the knife to my body.

I look through my closet once more, finally pulling out a ruby red dress with a flowing skirt on it that reaches my knees. The top of it was tight and the neckline dipped down in a 'v' to just under my breasts. I figure it would suit me well for a night out, and at the same time, the looseness of the skirt would keep the knife attached to my thigh hidden.

--

I down another shot, and slam the glass down on the bar. Lait was sitting beside me talking with a few guys, all of which I regarded with disdain. I roll my eyes as I see an attractive young man walking towards me. He stops in front of me, and flashes me a bright, white smile. He runs a hand through his full black hair and makes a show of looking me up and down.

"Hey, sweetheart, my name's Cheddar, what's yours?" he asks, his words slightly slurred.

I sigh and glance at Lait, who was fully enjoying herself. "Why don't you join those guys in flirting with my friend, because I am not interested."

"I don't see a ring on your finger," he points out.

"I have a boyfriend," I half-lie.

"Come on, baby, you might as well be single then," he slurs, and leans towards me slightly. "I can guarantee you a good time."

"Get lost," I reply.

He grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet, "baby, you know you won't get better than me tonight."

I pull my arm away from him, "listen buddy, I belong to someone, and he is not the type of person who appreciates other people touching his stuff, and he has a serious temper problem."

I turn away from him and grab Lait's forearm to get her attention, "let's get out of here."

She pouts slightly, before nodding. She exchanges goodbyes with the guys before following me towards the exit.

--

After a short cab ride, we arrived at Lait's condo complex. We took the elevator to the fifth floor before stepping out into the hallway and entering into a plush, sophisticated living room. I look around, having never visited her condo before. I couldn't help the uneasy feeling that came over me from being in that space. As rich as the space appeared, it gave off a feeling of emptiness, almost like it was all a front, like no one actually lived there. There were no photographs or personal mementoes in sight from what I could tell.

Lait excused herself to go to the bathroom. I wait a beat after hearing the door close, then I quietly make my way to a door that I supposed would lead to the master bedroom. I open it slowly, before slipping inside and hitting the light switch just inside the doorway. Something just didn't seem right here, and I couldn't help the need to investigate.

The bedroom was almost bare. There was a king sized bed with a canopy over top in the middle, a night stand beside it, a dresser on the opposite wall, and a vanity table against the wall opposite the door. The vanity seemed to be the only surface in the room that wasn't bare, so I carefully made my way over to it.

There was a mirror attached to the wall behind it, and a make-up case and jewelry box on top of it. I open a couple of the drawers in it, only to find nothing inside. I open the large jewelry box and frown. There was only a couple necklaces, a pair of diamond earrings, and two diamond rings inside. I pick up one of the diamond rings which looks oddly familiar to me, although I could swear that I've never seen Lait wear it before. Realization dawns on me. I gasp and drop the ring back into the box. I turn and make a run for the bedroom door. I'm halfway across the living room when Lait emerges from the bathroom.

She looks at me curiously, eyes scanning my face, before glancing towards her bedroom where I've forgotten to close the door in my haste. She rolls her eyes and disappears into the bathroom for another moment. I take the opportunity to try to get closer to the door.

"Stop!" she commands, walking back into the room with a gun pointed towards me.

I immediately freeze, my eyes going wide. I can't believe Lait has a gun pointed towards me, she's supposed to be a friend of mine. Then again, she wasn't a true friend. She used me.

"Tell me, Lait, was it you or your husband that broke into my office?" I ask through gritted teeth, keeping my hand down near my hidden weapon.

She laughs, a sound I once found airy, that now I find it devious. "You're too curious for your own good, Bulma, darling. You couldn't just be a good girl and wait for me to slip something in your drink could you? You had to go snooping through my things, and now, I'm going to get blood all over this carpet. Oh well, your blood in exchange for Reese's, seems fair to me."

"Bitch!" I exclaim. "Were you ever actually my friend Lait, or was it all a ruse from the start?"

"We were never friends, you were useful to me," she tells me, her gun never moving. "Darling Reese was a business acquaintance back then, it was all his idea. Have me 'bump' into you again, gain your trust, and steal your ideas. Of course, with the new technology he discovered, it all became much easier. You, you were not supposed to be able to track us, you ruined it all. Then, you just had to get that boyfriend of yours to attack him. I know it was you behind it, and I know it was him. It's all just too coincidental that you two just happened by his office the day before."

"Seems about right that you were nothing but a hired gun, that he was the brains behind it all," I spit out. "And our visit was a direct result of threats on my life. Unfortunately for him, my boyfriend doesn't deal in threats, he just acts." I try hard to keep my voice smooth, and keep my fear from showing. I can't let her know my fear makes me weaker than her right now, she would just take advantage of it. I have to keep appearing calm, regardless of how frantic my thoughts are.

She narrows her eyes at me, "he will never fully recover from this, you ruined my life! He's going to be useless to his company, and I am going to run out of money!"

"What's wrong, those wrinkles around your eyes keeping you from getting modeling gigs?" I ask, faking sympathy.

She growls, "I am gorgeous!" As if to accentuate her point, she pulls the trigger.


	13. Chapter 13

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 13

I squeeze my eyes tight, waiting for the moment when the bullet tears a hole through my delicate flesh. I wait, but nothing happens. I open my eyes to see Lait checking the gun. It dawns on me that it must have caught, and I react quickly. Reaching down and grabbing the knife from its position, I run a couple steps and lunge at Lait, tackling her around the waist. She lets out a shriek and tries to get the gun between our bodies. From my position on top of her, I place my one free hand over both of hers positioned on the gun handle. I try to overpower her, but it's no use. Panicking, I release my hand from overtop of hers and blindly stab with the knife in my other hand. My stomach rolls as I feel the knife yield slightly before giving way.

Lait yelps and looks to her hands, where the knife has cut off the tip of her right middle finger and stabbed into her left hand. Her mouth falls open in shook, and I grab the knife back out from her flesh. She drops the gun on the floor beside her, and I use my free hand to bat it just out of reach. I feel a sharp pain in my gut, and I quickly glance down to find Lait's knee in my stomach. She uses her bleeding, mangled hands to try to push me off of her. Even unbalanced from her knee, I manage to stay on top of her.

"Get off of me, bitch!" she screams, and growls. When I neither respond, nor move, she makes an attempt to grab the knife from my hand. As I move it away, she manages to topple me off of her to the ground. She pulls herself up and over enough to grab the gun.

Feeling a fresh wave of panic again, I let my reflexes take over and plunge the knife deep into Lait's abdomen. With my free hand, I smack the gun out of her hand and it skids across the floor to the other side of the room.

I hear Lait gasp and I tear my eyes away from where I've stabbed her. I look at her face in horror as she coughs up some blood. I know I should call someone, get an emergency vehicle here, and try to stop the bleeding as best I can. In my head, I'm doing all the right things, but in reality, I can just sit and stare as a woman struggles to stay alive right in front of me.

She gasps and coughs up more blood. There's blood everywhere, all over Lait, the floor, and myself. I look down at my own hands, stained crimson with her blood. I can't help but stare at them, the hands that are responsible for taking a life. How could I do something so horrible as to take another human life? I notice then that Lait has stopped struggling, and I feel hot tears start to stream down my cheeks. A let out one sob, then another, and soon I can't control the tears or sobs that flow from me. I feel like a horrible person, even worse for what I'm going to be forced to do.

Trying to see through the tears filling my eyes, I stand slowly and stumble over to where I had dropped my purse when I walked in. Grabbing it, I lower myself to the floor again and punch in a number I know by heart. I can't get caught with a dead body, I can't go to jail. There's no proof that it was in self defence, and I would get charged. A deep voice answers the phone on the other end, and through a raspy voice, I explain the situation, and tell him how much I need it to disappear.

I end the call after a promise that he'll be here soon. I know I can count on him, Capsule Corporations head of security, Smith, has made things 'disappear' for us before. I trust him to relieve me of this mess, like he's covered several other illegal things (all in the name of good) in the past for my families company.

--

I walk into my house a little over an hour after I called Smith. He had showed up with a few guys that I didn't know. He had comforted me and assured me that I did the right thing. He had sat and listened quietly as I related the entire story to him. He had been the one that met me at Capsule Corporation the night of the break in and had given me the lowdown on what had happened, so he was interested to learn the truth behind it all. After listening to my story, he insisted that I clean myself up and go home. He told me his men worked best without an audience. I was too tired and still in a shocked state to put up much of a fight.

I walk through the house until I came to the back door. Out on the porch sat Vegeta, reclined back in a deck chair with his feet propped up on the table. I open the door and walk out, somehow I had known that he would be here.

He looks at me for a moment, scanning his eyes over my body as if to check for visible damage. He then looks straight ahead again.

I stand staring at him for a few minutes, unsure of what to do. I want to throw myself at him, and bury my thoughts in him, but at the same time, I want nothing to do with a man who can do what I was forced to do tonight and feel no remorse. I want to curl up and weep, and forget the world because I killed a less than innocent woman, and it disgusts me that he can kill innocent people and not feel a thing. I hold out my hands and look at them again. They are clean, but I can still see the blood on them. It's everywhere, it's washed over my hands and streaming down my arms. It's seeping from my stomach and staining my clothes. My breath hitches and I feel myself start to sway.

"Stop it," Vegeta says roughly, and I turn my head slightly to look at him.

My eyes go wide. There are spurts of blood coming from his mouth. My mind is reeling, and I feel the panic start to rise in me. My eyes dart from his mouth to my hands to my stomach again. There's blood everywhere. It's starting to come quicker and pooling around me. I can't take it anymore, I open my mouth to scream.

Before any sound can come out, a hand clamps over my mouth. "That will make matters worse," Vegeta says, his voice lowered and mouth positioned beside my ear. "Do you want to wake up your parents and explain why you're hallucinating?"

I don't move or speak, and after a beat he removes his hand from my mouth, but doesn't move away from me.

"Concentrate, don't give in to it," he instructs.

"Don't give in to it?" I repeat, starting to sob again. "How can I not? There's blood everywhere, so much blood. It's horrible."

"There's no blood anywhere," he replies, "it's all in your head." He takes a hold of my wrists and forces them to my sides to keep me from looking at my hands again. "You have to get over this."

"Easy for you to say!" I snap back. "I actually feel remorse for my actions! I actually regret having to kill someone!"

He growls and pushes me back, "fine, don't deal with it. Give in to your despair."

I feel hot tears rise to my eyes again at being pushed away from him. I don't know what to do. I feel haunted by the blood, and the struggle for life. I look at the man in front of me, eyes pleading for comfort and understanding. I don't want to be alone. I swallow my hurt and take the few steps to close the distance between us. Trying hard to ignore the images in my mind, I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in the side of his neck. I feel him tense as my tears roll over his flesh. He doesn't put his arms around me, but he also doesn't push me away for being so 'weak'.

"It was you or her," he said quietly after a few minutes, "do you regret choosing your own life?"

"I regret being made to choose," I reply, stepping back from him and wiping a hand over my eyes. "And I regret having to…" I trail off, not wanting to say 'kill'. "I didn't even intend to, it was just reflex. She reached for a gun, and I just…just…did it without even thinking. I could have just wounded her, but instead I killed her."

He nods slowly, and turns away from me, moving into the house. Slightly confused, I follow him in. I find him in the living room sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa. He looks up at me, watching me. I turn on a dim lamp and sit down beside him.

"My first kill was not long after I was passed to Frieza," he tells me quietly, staring straight ahead. I watch the profile of his face intently, but no sign of emotion passes over it. "I was…young by Earth standards. He threw me in a re-enforced cell with a soldier of his who had gone insane in a battle. Frieza was bored, I suppose, and this game served to not only entertain him, but also to get rid of a nuisance, and to begin trying to break me. The soldier had attacked, like Frieza had intended, and I was forced to subdue and execute him." He pauses for a few moments, and I let the silence remain until he spoke again. "I can't remember what he looked like, or even what species he was. There's so many faces of things I've killed that they all blend together after a while. You learn quickly to deal with the recourse of your actions or risk turning into what that soldier had. I've killed to survive, and I will continue to do so. I have no remorse for choosing my life over another."

I sat quietly as my brain registered everything that he had said. He gave me a rare insight into his past and how his mind worked. It was a comfort in a way to know that he had not chosen to kill his first time, but had been forced into it. "You may not feel remorse, but I do," I say quietly.

"You're weak," he states. I would have been insulted, except the tone he used wasn't meant to insult. "You're also brash, which doesn't bode well for you."

"Are you saying chances are good that I'll be dead soon, anyway?" I ask, almost amused.

"You would have been dead tonight if it wasn't for me," he reminds me.

"Oh, so, are you saying that you'll be around to protect me?" I ask. I didn't realize until after the words had left my lips that they meant more then what the question posed was.

He finally turns his head to look me in the eyes, "I'm not a protector, Bulma, I'm not the Prince that comes from Earths fairytales."

I smile and lean my head over to kiss his lips gently. I pull back again and search his eyes, which are filled with confusion. "Good, I don't need a full time protector, just someone to jump in when I'm about to get myself killed."

"Or when you have a nightmare," he adds with a smirk.

"Exactly," I nod in agreement, "I'm a very self-sufficient woman."

"What were you seeing?" he asks suddenly. "Earlier, when you were outside."

I shudder, as I recall all the images of blood I saw. "I was bleeding in the same places Lait was, and you had blood coming from your mouth." I look around nervously, "thankfully, the hallucinations seem to have stopped for a moment."

"You're out of shock," he supplies.

I nod, the images still playing through my head. "How did you know?" I ask quietly.

"That idiot sold her out today in hopes that I would spare him," he tells me, "some good that did him."

"Lovely man," I say sarcastically with a frown.

He shrugs, "he bled nicely."

I grimace, "something he and his wife had in common." I look at my hands again, remembering how they looked covered with blood. I suddenly have a need to wash them again. "I'm going upstairs," I say slowly and standing from my spot, "coming with?" I turn to make my way to the stairs, knowing he's following me. I go straight through my bedroom to my bathroom. I run the water hot and place my hands under, trying desperately to remove the dirty feeling. I smirk slightly as the words 'out damn spot, out' spoken by Lady MacBeth come to mind. Am I to go insane like she?

Deciding against a descent into madness, I turn off the water and dry my hands. Walking out of my bathroom and into my bedroom, I stop just inside the doorway. Vegeta is lying on his back on my bed, with one arm at his side, the other pillowed under his head. I take a moment while his eyes are closed to admire his shirtless physique. There's something about the way his body is built that intrigues me to no end. I smile slightly to myself and pull off my dress from that night. As I turn to grab a short, silk night gown, I notice his eyes are now open and staring intently at my body. He moves his eyes up to my face and smirks. I shake my head in mock disapproval, before slipping the nightgown on.

I slowly saunter toward him, delighting in the way his eyes never move from me. It does wonders for a woman's self-esteem to know that she's the only one on an entire planet that a man thinks is worth his time. When I get within arms distance he grabs me, pulls me down and flips me over so I'm pinned beneath him. He props himself up on his elbows and looks down at me with the mischievous look that I adore so much.

"I'm supposed to be agonizing over the act I committed, not enjoying myself," I murmur in a less than serious tone.

"I'm trying to relieve your mind of guilt, worry, and any other tangible thought," he replies, and lowers his head to nip at the side of my jaw.

"How helpful of you," I reply, placing a hand on his cheek to guide his mouth to mine. I moan as he plunges his tongue into my mouth. I dive my right hand into his hair, as I trail my left down his chest and abdomen to the waist of his jeans.

--

I have a knife in my hand and all around me are shadows, and laughter. I spin in a circle, trying to figure out who each shadow is. I hear a gun trigger being pulled and I swing in that direction with the knife. The lights flash on and I'm expecting to see Lait's face, but instead it's Vegeta. His hands are by his side, and he's staring at me with the same cold, dead eyes that he used to. Blood is seeping out onto his flesh from around the knife, but he doesn't pay it any attention, he just keeps staring. I feel tears well up in my eyes and my heart shatters.

"Does it hurt, darling?" Lait's voice whispers up to me. It isn't long until her figure is standing beside me. "Well, does it?"

I gasp, and try to steady my voice, "of course it does."

"You took my husband from me," she states calmly, "but I didn't love him, just his money. You love this man, don't you?"

"Yes," I say quietly.

"He doesn't love you back, Bulma," Lait states. "So, what hurts more? Losing him, or knowing those cold dead eyes are for you?"

I tear my eyes away from Vegeta's form to look at Lait, "those aren't for me anymore, they're different for me now."

"If they're different, then why does he look at you now with such indifference?" Lait asks. "You should never get attached, babydoll, you should have taken a lesson from me. You use them and discard them."

I look back at Vegeta, and walk up to him. I stare into his eyes. "This is just a dream isn't it?" I ask, but get no response from him. "Vegeta no longer acts like this towards me, and you, Lait, are dead." I turn to face her and gasp. Blood is spilling out from a hole in her abdomen.

She looks down and sighs, "what a mess." She turns her attention back to me, "that's right Bulma, I am dead, and you killed me."

I awake suddenly.

I take a deep breath before opening my eyes. My bedroom is still dark, which means little time has passed since I fell asleep. My head is cushioned on Vegeta's chest, with my left arm laid across his stomach, and my leg wrapped around his. Hearing his heart beat steadily beneath my ear, and feeling his body beside mine gave me an instant safe feeling, like nothing could hurt me. I shift, snuggling more into him.

"Go to sleep," he mutters, still half asleep himself. He absently throws his right arm around my waist, which I figure is more to keep me still then anything else.

I sigh contentedly and close my eyes once more to go back to sleep, doomed to repeat the events of the night over and over again in the form of nightmares.


	14. Chapter 14

Windows to the Soul

A/n: This chapter is dedicated to Nikoru, because you're awesome, and your review got me all excited to write this next chapter. Anyway, tried something new in this chapter, which you will all know what it is when you get there. Don't worry if you didn't like it, I won't be doing it often or maybe not again. Tell me how you liked it in a review, eh?

Chapter 14

Everything almost feels surreal in a way. Three days have passed since that horrible night, and no one seems to be the wiser. There's been nothing on the news about her strange disappearance, and no one has been treating me any differently. I half expected to not be able to walk into a room without everyone turning accusing looks towards me. To be fair though, I have been avoiding crowded areas. I have yet to go to Capsule Corporation headquarters, feeling not quite up to dealing with people. Besides, I haven't been sleeping well lately, and I'd probably end up screaming at one of our biggest clients.

After a failed attempt at sleeping, and waking up screaming the night after, I've resigned myself to keeping the same sleeping hours as the Prince. I catch him coming in at night and nag him until he agrees to sleep in my room if I shut up, then I get up early at the same time he does. I seem to have fewer nightmares when he's there, and they've taken quite the horrific turn. It's becoming harder and harder to wake myself up from them. The last one consisted of Lait carving herself up, while humming an eerie tune. I shudder just to think of it.

I sit at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee gripped between my hands. My mother is moving around preparing breakfast and rambling on about nothing in particular. I feel my eyes start to droop, and I shake my head to try to fight back the exhaustion. I've learned in the last couple of days that saiyan's definitely don't require as much sleep as humans do.

I stare down into my coffee and sigh. What am I going to do? I have no idea how to get peace from my guilty mind, and it's obviously taking its toll on me. When I finally look up again, my mother is staring at me.

She smiles sadly, and plays with the gold wedding band on her finger. "Bulma, honey, is everything all right?"

I try to smile for her and nod my head. "Of course," I mumble, barely stifling a yawn.

"Darling, why don't you take a nap? You look like you could use it," she suggests, her eyes dull with worry.

"Really, Mom, I'm fine," I reply. She frowns, and I feel a twinge of guilt. I hate making my mother worry, she's such a sweetheart and only wants what's best for me.

She sighs and turns back to the oven, removing the food from the heat, "I'm just saying, you don't look like yourself, and you certainly aren't acting like the Bulma I know."

"I know, Mom," I say.

"And sleep is very important, darling," she continues, "especially in your work. My, you could be working with something dangerous, yawn, and blow up the entire compound."

"I know, Mom."

"Plus, you have a faint purple hue under your eyes, and dear, that is not attractive," she makes a sound of disapproval, "and you know, make up does do wonders to cover it, but it shouldn't be an everyday thing. You have such natural beauty, Bulma, you don't want to cover it all up with make-up, now do you?" She turns to place the food on the table, and looks to me for an answer.

"No, Mom," I say, and take a long drink of my coffee.

Vegeta walks in at that moment, drinking from a bottle of water. He nods in greeting to my mother, who smiles and blushes in response. He sits down at the table and starts helping himself to the food placed there.

My mother finally pours herself a cup of coffee and sits down with us. "Now, honey, have some breakfast and go take a long nap."

I groan, "don't you think I'm a little old for my mother to be telling me to take a nap?"

"You know I'm right," she replies, with a big smile, "you need to get some color back into your cheeks. You don't want to age prematurely, do you?"

"I am still young and beautiful," I reply, sticking my nose into the air slightly.

"You wouldn't be able to tell that today. You just don't look very good, Bulma," my mother says. I'm about to open my mouth to counter her statement when she interrupts me with, "back me up, tell Bulma she doesn't look herself today, Vegeta."

"You look hideous," he says without looking up from his food once.

I narrow my eyes at him, "thanks."

He shrugs in response.

I roll my eyes and look back at my mother, "I'll think about it, alright?" I push my chair back and stand up before she has a chance to reply. I walk out of the room and make my way to the living room, where I plop down on the sofa and grab the television remote. Turning the television on, I switch the channel to a soap opera, and try my best to get lost in their world.

It isn't long before Vegeta walks in, grabs the remote from where it was laying, and turns the television off.

"Hey!" I exclaim, turning irritated eyes towards him.

"Go sleep," he tells me, simply.

I growl at him, turn forward again, and cross my arms over my chest. Why is everyone trying to force me to sleep? They don't think I'm capable of taking care of myself?

"Just do as I say, don't be a stubborn idiot," he says.

"Such convincing words," I reply angrily. "So, let's see, in the span of a half hour, you've called me hideous and an idiot. I am so wanting to do as you say right now."

"You are being an idiot," he replies. "You won't move past such a trivial thing, it's absurd."

"A trivial thing?" I repeat, jumping to my feet and sticking a finger into his chest. "A trivial thing is a parking ticket, taking someone's life is way up there on the not trivial scale. In fact, it's so up there, that it's not even on it!"

He bats my finger away, "you're not even making sense anymore."

"I make sense to me!" I practically yell.

He shakes his head, "I don't know why I even bother with you."

"Neither do I, you obviously don't give a shit about me," I seethe, immediately regretting the words as he narrows his eyes at me.

"Obviously," he agrees coldly, eyes burning with anger. It only takes a second for him to disappear from in front of me.

I close my eyes, my anger completely gone. I fall backwards onto the sofa and run my hands through my hair. I didn't mean to say that, I wasn't thinking, and I let my anger talk. I bit my bottom lip, trying to keep from tearing up. I didn't mean it, I should have watched what I was saying, I should have thought. I feel a tear slip down my cheek. He's right, I am weak, even more so because of my lack of sleep. I never would have said such a thing if I was in my right mind. I need sleep, I'll admit it. Taking a deep breath, I stand to go upstairs, ready to face the nightmares on my own.

--

I race through the forest, narrowly missing trees as I swerve around them. I'm angry, visibly so. Angry at myself, and angry at that frustrating female. I stop suddenly when I see a small running river, and drop to my knees beside it. I splash some of the cool water on my face, before drinking a bit of it. I stand once more and take in my surroundings. I'm deep in the middle of a dense forest. I can hear wildlife moving and speaking all around me, my ears perk up as my hunters instinct kicks in. It's been quite a long time since I have had dripping, fresh meat.

I'm getting soft living with that family. I'm becoming weak, and that insufferable woman is not helping. What is wrong with me? I would have easily batted her to the side before I came to live here. She would not even have been a second thought. She was not supposed to be any more than a release, but somehow she's managed to get in my head. I find myself wanting to protect her, as much as that goes against my nature. I did not lie when I told her that I am not a protector, and I feel no inclination to protect any other. It is true that she is different from any other human, what she lacks in physical strength, she more than makes up for in intelligence, pride, and courage.

She is impacting my training. Seeing to her takes valuable time away from it. But yet, I find myself making more headway towards my goal then I did before she started contaminating my thoughts. I have yet to decide whether it's worth the trouble of dealing with such a stubborn, irritating being.

I loathe her, because she is my weakness. She has the nerve to accuse me of not 'giving a shit' (such vulgar language), when it's clearly the opposite. There is no other in this universe that could accuse me of such and anger me. If another had spoken such words, I would have laughed in their face. But, not her. Why her?

For so long, there has been no one. For so long, my head has been filled with blood, and pain, my ears hearing only cries of pain, and pleadings for mercy. Other women have tried and failed, they'd been used and discarded, some killed out of boredom. She takes away the blood, and screams, she makes me care, and that makes her dangerous. Even more so, that makes her a target.

--

I sit out on the porch, my laptop posed in front of me, and numerous notebooks scattered around me. I decided to do some work from home today, knowing that some of the projects I was heading up were time sensitive and couldn't wait.

Vegeta hadn't come back the night before from wherever he had fled to. I didn't like knowing that he was so angry with me. I wanted him to come back so I could explain and apologize. I had this feeling that he wouldn't listen though. I had messed up, and he was going to put me through hell to get back in his good graces.

I don't remember ever feeling as empty as I did when I woke up this morning. My night was filled with nightmares, and sleeping on and off for ten hours. When I had woken up for the final time, it hit me how much I missed knowing he was beside me all night. I don't know how I became so attached to him, but I have, and it hurts to know he's not around. I sigh, I'm not just attached, I'm in love with him. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. This entire relationship is self-destructive, and caring for him so much is just going to make it hurt more when it finally implodes.

I frown and close my eyes. I'm used to being in control with every aspect of my life. My relationship with Yamcha was simple and easy. I knew where it was going, and I knew how he'd react to everything I did and said. It started going downhill after a few years though, and eventually, there was no intensity, no passion, no excitement, and no surprises. We were coasting, and I let it happen because I could control it. With Vegeta, it's entirely different. I never know what he's going to do, or how he'll react to anything. His intensity spills over to our relationship, which definitely keeps it from becoming mundane. But, I can't control anything about it. I don't know where it's going, or even what we're doing and that thought scares me. I know he's going to leave. He'll stay to fight the androids and Goku, then, if he survives, he'll leave. There's a gnawing thought in the back of my head though that keeps saying that maybe he won't, but, I can't see him ever being a person to be content to stay on Earth with me.

I open my eyes and stare at my computer screen again. My e-mail inbox has over twenty unread mails which are just sitting there taunting me. I very much want to hit 'delete all', but that could have catastrophic consequences for the company. I click to open the first one, which is a message from my assistant e-mailing me the notes from the latest directors meeting. I groan, reading notes is not what I'd consider a pleasant time-consuming activity. I was hoping for some kind of exciting emergency I could extinguish.

When I'm on my fifth e-mail, I see movement coming from the sky over top of my laptop. I look over to see Vegeta land on the lawn and start to walk towards myself and the back doors. I look at his face and see nothing written there. I frown and stand to block his path when he tries to walk by me. He stops but stares over my shoulder.

I bite my bottom lip, and place my hands on his chest, which he promptly swats off. He finally focuses his eyes on me, and narrows them. "Don't touch me, don't talk to me, don't come near me," he says, his voice low and dangerous.

My eyes go wide and I have to resist the urge to step back. "Vegeta…" I say, trailing off, unsure what to say that wouldn't hurt his pride.

He went to push past me, and I make the mistake of grabbing his shoulder to try to stop him. He whirls around, grabs my wrist and shoves me against the side of the building. I gasp and wince at the tightness of his grip. He stares in my eyes for a moment, his dark and unwavering, as if to accentuate his point. He lets go of me and turns to move away again.

I growl and wrap my hand around his forearm, "you are not walking away from me."

He whirls again and pushes me away, "you foolish woman, what is wrong with you?"

I ignore the ache in my wrist as I walk back up to him, "I could ask you the same question. If you want to push me around and try to scare me with pain, then go ahead and try. You should know by now that I'm way too stubborn to let that stop me."

He glares at me, "that's not being stubborn, it's being idiotic."

"It'd be idiotic if I believed for one second that you actually posed a threat to me," I reply, glaring back at him. "And no, I will not leave you alone, or not talk to you, or whatever other trash you spouted off." I poked my finger into his chest, "you know damn well that I didn't mean what I said, and if you want to be all pissy about it, then fine, but don't expect me to voluntarily leave you alone."

He shrugged and smirked, "fine. Tell your father to prep the gravity chamber for a trip into space, then."

"What?" I exclaimed. Oh no, he is not going into space to try to avoid me. "Don't you think that's a bit drastic?" He looked at me with a self-satisfied smirk, and I couldn't keep my face neutral anymore. "Vegeta…" I trail off, my lip pouting out as he turned away from me and walked into my house.

--

I laugh as I stumble back to the table where my friends sat. I plop down into a chair and took another long drink from my vodka mixed drink.

"I think we should cut you off soon, Bulma," Taya says, laughing.

"Nah, it's cool, we'll make sure nothing happens to her," the man to Taya's side states, slipping an arm around her. Loop, Taya's new boyfriend, was a tall, thin man with shaggy red hair, and a penchant for having a good time.

"Of course we will, she's our bud," another female, Ganah, pipes up. She's tall with short silver hair and tanned skin. Taya invited her along.

I laugh again and lift my glass in a toast to them before finishing the glass.

"Want another one? On me?" Yamcha asks me, coming up behind me from the dance floor.

"Sure," I reply, laughing again, happy that we had run into my ex-boyfriend at the club. He returns with my drink and sits down beside me. I take another swig. "What a fucking jerk," I state. "Who the fuck does he think he is? He can't just up and fucking leave!"

Taya and Yamcha exchange a look and Yamcha grabs my forearm, pulling me to my feet, and brings me out the backdoor to the fenced in area behind the club. I take a breath of fresh air and lean back against the brick wall.

"How can one man be such a jerk?" I ask, turning around and kicking the wall. "He's leaving."

"Honestly, Bulma, what did you expect?" Yamcha asks.

"Don't you try to pin this on me," I say, turning back to him, and almost losing my balance in the process. "I didn't ask for this, I just slipped up, and now he's leaving out of spite and to hurt me. And it's working." I lean my back against the wall and slide down it, until I'm sitting on my heels.

Yamcha sighs, "I don't feel bad for you, you left me for him."

"I did," I agree with a nod, "and now I'm going to be alone."

He seems to hesitate for a moment before reaching down, and gently taking a hold of my arms to pull me to my feet. "Maybe not…" he says quietly before trailing off. A moment passes before he leans in towards me.


	15. Chapter 15

Windows to the Soul

Chapter 15

Yamcha presses his lips to mine hesitantly. My eyes go wide as I push him away and slap him hard across the face. "What the hell do you think that you're doing?" I all but scream.

"Hey, I'm sorry, alright?" Yamcha replies, holding a hand to his cheek, as tears start to once again stream down my face.

"No, I'm sorry," I say between my sobs. "I'm sorry, Yamcha, I'm so sorry."

He gathers me into his arms and lets me weep into his chest. It isn't the same as it is with Vegeta, nothing is the same.

I look up into Yamcha's face, tears still going down mine. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you, for everything that I ever did or said to upset you. I'm sorry I let it go the way it did without attempting to stop it. I'm sorry I broke up with you to fuck some jerk." I sob again but don't break eye contact with the man in front of me. "Please forgive me, Yamcha."

"I do, of course I do," he replies with a small smile.

"So you'll take me back then?" I ask, tone hopeful. "You never realize what you have until it's gone, right?"

"Bulma…" he pauses, "what about Vegeta?"

I narrow my eyes, "what about him?"

---

I stride through the front door of my house smelling faintly of alcohol and Yamcha. My headache from the events of the night before was getting fainter, partly due to the painkillers I had taken before leaving Yamcha's apartment. I couldn't wait to take a shower and rid myself of the dirty feeling clinging to my skin. Luck was not on my side as Vegeta walked through the other entrance to my living room, the one that I had to go through. I set my jaw, avoided eye contact and tried to walk by him. He grabbed my arm as I was going past, and I stopped, looking back at him. He was still staring straight ahead, his face giving away nothing.

"Why do you smell like him?" he asks quietly, still not looking at me.

"What business of it is yours?" I reply, trying in vain to pull my arm away from him. "I undid my mistake." I try hard to keep my voice hard and steady. I don't want my hurt to show through.

He slowly turns his head to look at me. He narrows his eyes and speaks low, "if you value his life in any way, you will not let him near you like that again."

"Excuse me?" I say, feeling anger start to build inside of me. "You have no right to threaten him and try to control me. At least he wants to be near me," I spat at him.

He growled slightly, but gave no response.

I narrow my eyes at him, "let go of me."

To my surprise, he removes his hand from my arm. "Easier said than done," he says in a voice so quiet it's barely audible.

"You're leaving me, I'm just putting my life back the way it was before you happened," I tell him, keeping my voice cold.

"You're deceiving yourself, you know he isn't what you want," he says, staring into my eyes.

"Maybe not, but he's what I can have," I reply, mentally kicking myself as my voice breaks. I hear the front door slam open and I know it's Yamcha. He was coming over after he did some errands.

"Hey, babe," he yells, making his way into the living room.

I finally tear my eyes away from Vegeta's dark ones as Yamcha enters the room. My heart sinks as I see him look back and forth between myself and the man beside me. I force my legs to take a couple steps towards him, and he quickly closes the distance, eyeing Vegeta with mistrust. He wraps his arm around my waist and I glance back at Vegeta, my heart skipping a beat at the deathglare he was sending the way of Yamcha. I suddenly feel very uncomfortable being so close to Yamcha, and I push him away. I take a step back, looking between the two men. "I…can't, I just can't," I murmur, running past Vegeta and up the stairs.

I throw myself onto my bed and bury my face in my pillows. It's not fair. I can't have the man I want, and I don't want the man I can have. I thought I'd be alright with Yamcha, but I can't be near him in front of Vegeta, not with a clear conscience anyway. Maybe I should just become a nun…

I don't look up as I hear my door open and close, already knowing who it would be. "Go away, Yamcha," I say.

"He's still downstairs," came the rough voiced reply.

I curse my heart as it starts to pound faster at the sound of Vegeta's voice. "That goes for you too, let me have my breakdown in peace." I wait a few minutes, hoping that he'll go away. I finally give up and turn my head to look at him. He's leaning against my wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and watching me intently. I growl and sit up, grabbing my pillow and chucking it at his head.

He easily sidesteps it. "At least your maturity is still intact."

"You drive me nuts!" I exclaim. "What the hell do you want from me, Vegeta? I'm tired of going back and forth with you. You don't want to be with me, but you don't want me to be with anyone else either. You can't have it both ways!"

"I don't know," he replies, "you confuse me."

"I confuse you?" I repeat incredulously. "I have been so straightforward and not confusing."

Vegeta rolls his eyes and starts pacing back and forth, brows furrowed in thought. "Disgusting smell, another man's scent," he mutters, making me lower my eyes.

"You make me feel guilty," I say quietly.

"You should," he replies, not breaking stride.

"That's not fair!" I exclaim. "You should know by now that I would rather have you then him! I can't explain why though, because you're a complete jerk." I cross my arms over my chest, watching him from my seat on my bed.

"I'm psychologically damaged," he says with a slight smirk.

"I already knew that," I agree. "You're psychologically damaged, you're half mad, you have homicidal tendencies, as well as intimacy, trust, and communication issues, and to top it off, you're ego rivals the size of mine. You are not good relationship material."

He finally stops pacing and looks at me, cocking an eyebrow in amusement. "As long as we're listing faults. You're bossy, bitchy, self-centered, lazy, brash, weak, emotional, and you scream more than anyone I have ever met."

I narrow my eyes at him, "I can go on with yours if you'd like."

He shrugs, "go ahead."

"You play too many games," I say slowly, "I can't ever figure you out."

"I thought you had figured me out already. I believe it included trust issues and homicidal tendencies, didn't it?" He replies.

"Be honest with me, Vegeta," I say, taking a deep breath, ready to have my heart broken. "Do you have serious feelings for me at all? Could you ever love me?"

He stares at me for a moment, his surprise etched in his expression. "No."

As prepared as I was to be letdown, I still feel tears well up in my eyes. I turn my face away from him, trying to hide it.

"That emotion is foreign to me," he says carefully, "I can't feel something I don't know. To tell you that I could would be a lie."

I know his explanation should make me feel better, but it doesn't. I watch out of the corner of my eyes as he walks over to my bed and sits beside me.

"You knew what my answer would be before you asked the question," he states. "Don't deliberately make me hurt you. Watch my actions instead of asking for verbal confirmations that I can't give you."

"Are you leaving still?" I ask after a moment's pause.

"Yes," he replies, "and yes, I am leaving to get away from you. I need to sort my priorities out, and I can't do that with you around. I need uninterrupted training time, and you pose as a distraction."

"Oh, I'm a distraction?" I repeat, finally turning to face him completely.

He takes that opportunity to close the distance between our mouths for a few moments. "You're a distraction," he confirms, licking his lips. He grabs my hand and gets to his feet, pulling me up with him. "Follow," he instructs, leading me into the adjoining bathroom. He turns my shower on before turning back to me. He places his hands on either side of my face and kisses me again. "You are very lucky I didn't kill him, and if I ever smell any other males scent on you again, I will hunt them down," he states in a dangerous voice, "I'm possessive of what is mine, understand?"

I nod and he drops his hands back to his sides. "I hope you realize that isn't a one-sided deal."

He smirks and nods. "I couldn't possibly put up with another screeching human female."

I smile and smack his shoulder, "jerk."

"Just clean yourself, woman," he tells me, moving towards the door.

I smirk and grab his arm, making him turn towards me. "Join me? I missed you last night."

He nods, watching intently as I shed myself of my clothing and step into the shower. I raise my face to the water, letting the heat of it wash over me. For now, everything is right and I intend to enjoy it.

I feel Vegeta step in behind me and wrap his arms around my waist. I lean back against his body and sigh as he trails a hand over me. The feel of his body and the hot water pelting me makes for a wonderful combination. I turn in his arms to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck and hungrily taking his mouth with my own.

---

I lay on top of Vegeta, my head resting on his chest, my wet hair fanned out around my head. At some point in the last hour, we had moved to my bed, although I can't seem to remember when. I smile contentedly as he unconsciously trails his fingers up and down my back. "I love you," I murmur before I can stop myself. I bite my bottom lip, waiting to feel him tense up and get distant.

"I know," he replies, surprising me.

---

I walk downstairs and into the living room to try to find Yamcha. Not finding him there, I make my way into the kitchen, where my mother is humming as she moves a cleaning rag over the counters.

"Have you seen Yamcha?" I ask her, sitting down at the kitchen table.

My mother turns to me with a smile. "Oh, yes, sweetheart, he was here earlier. We had a nice chat about how well my garden is doing." She opens a drawer and pulls an envelope out, handing it to me. "He left this for you."

Curious, I take the envelope and open it, finding a short note inside:

_Bulma,_

_Last night was a mistake, you and I both know it. I deluded myself into believing that you had finally realized what Vegeta truly is, but I was wrong. I knew I was wrong as soon as I saw you beside him earlier, the look in your eyes gave it away. I'm stepping out of your life completely, because I can't bear to see you with that monster, and I refuse to be your release every time he hurts you. I love you too much for that. I never thought I'd walk away from someone so amazing, but you only see him now, and it hurts me to no end. I'll always love you Bulma, I have no regrets about that, and I hope you don't either, but I need to move on. Don't ever forget me, babe._

_Yamcha_

I blink back tears as I silently fold the piece of paper and place it back in the envelope. I make a promise to him and to myself to never forget him. He was my first love, and my best friend for many years. Some day, I hope we can move past this, past all the confusion and hurt, and be friends once more. I would like that. I know he'll never see in Vegeta what I do, but maybe he can put that resentment behind him eventually, and see I'm in good hands. I stand and walk to the counter, opening a drawer and rummaging around inside of it. Finding what I want, I pick up the envelope again and head outside to the porch. I close my eyes and take a steadying breath. Opening them once more, I flick the lighter that I had retrieved. I stare into the flame for a moment before catching the corner of the envelope in it. I release the lighter and watch the paper burn until it's black and charred. The wind scatters the ashes as I drop the remnants on the ground, letting the fire burn itself out.

"Goodbye Yamcha," I whisper. It's time to leave the past behind. I glance out over the backyard until my eyes land on the gravity chamber where the man I love is training. He'll leave within a couple days, but he'll come back. He needs to reach his goals, and I can't stand in the way of that. It's time for me to get my life back, and it's time for me to look to the future.

**The end of Windows to the Soul**

I hope you enjoyed the ride, and please look for the sequel, "Pain Runs Deep". The sequel will go through the conception of Trunks, the androids and Cell, and for a bit afterwards. You can add me to your Author's Alert to be notified when it is released, or send me a message through my profile and I'll personally let you know.

Thanks for everything, it was amazing writing this for you, and I promise that the next one will be even better. As always, please leave me some reviews.

Clear Eyed Dreamer


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